A man from California has filed a lawsuit claiming ownership of two jackpot-winning lottery tickets purchased last year at the same gas station.
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Faramarz Lahijani went in June to claim half of the $394 million prize from the December 8, 2023, drawing. He said he lost the second winning ticket, worth an additional $197.5 million. According to the New York Post, the tickets were purchased at a Chevron gas station on Ventura Boulevard. In his lawsuit, Lahijani mentioned that he had played the same numbers his children picked. However, the deadline to claim the second prize passed on December 7, 2024.
He asserts in his breach-of-contract lawsuit against the California Lottery that, having successfully claimed the first prize, he is entitled to the entire jackpot. However, lottery officials have offered their own explanations for how the same numbers could have been played twice at the same store.
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“Perhaps one person wanted to try their luck on two different rows, or maybe a group of friends decided to play the same numbers. The full story may never be known unless the second ticket is located.”
The Chevron gas station also made history as it made a record-breaking bonus of $1.975 million, $987,500 for each winning ticket sold.
