Lottery winner fights for other half of $394,000,000 jackpot after ‘losing second ticket’

A lottery winner not satisfied with his half of a $394million jackpot is fighting for the rest of it – claiming he also bought the second ticket but lost it.

Faramarz Lahijani insists he purchased two Mega Millions tickets at a Chevron gas station in Encino, California, and that they both had the same numbers he has played for three decades, Patch reported.

The tickets had the numbers 21, 26, 53, 66, 70 and gold Mega Millions ball number 13, and were picked by his kids, according to Lahijani.

Lahijani came forward with one ticket and claimed half of the jackpot valued at $197.5million this summer.

On Friday, Lahijani sued the California Lottery for breach of contract just before the deadline for the second ticketholder to claim the remaining share of the jackpot.

‘By virtue of his having timely submitted the first matching ticket, plaintiff is entitled to the entirety of the jackpot,’ states Lahijani’s lawsuit.

The suit claims that Lahijani is the only jackpot winner from the two tickets he purchased on December 8, 2023.

‘It would not be appropriate for the California Lottery to comment on an active lawsuit or any pending litigation to protect the integrity of the process involved,’ the spokesperson told Patch.

When the drawing happened, lottery officials had said it was possible that a player could have chosen an identical combination of numbers at the same store.

‘While this is incredibly unusual and interesting, it’s not unheard of,’ said California Lottery spokesperson Carolyn Becker at the time, according to the New York Post.

‘There are any number of explanations; perhaps one person wanted to try their luck on two different rows for whatever reason, or maybe a couple of buddies wanted to try their chances with the same exact numbers.

‘We won’t know exactly how this happened until the prize is claimed.’

Lahijani is not the only player who has taken a legal route after scoring a big payout.

In May, the family of a Maine man who won a $1.35billion Mega Millions jackpot sued him, claiming he broke a promise to share the funds.

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