After playing for five years, warehouse coworkers split $1M lottery win

A group of co-workers from Ontario are excitedly making plans after winning the lottery.

The five co-workers who work in warehousing have been playing the lottery as a group for five years. The members include Ketheeswaran Thurairajasingam of Pickering, Gnanakalathevi Amirthalinkam of Scarborough, Loganathan Sanmugarajah of Markham, Mark Brown of Whitby, and Raymond Wright of Brooklin.

Thurairajasingam had been in charge of checking their ticket and when he realized that they had won, he had to check a few more times just to be sure.

“I had to check the ticket three times. When I saw six zeroes, I was so excited,” he said.

So he immediately got on the phone to share the news. But despite his excitement, convincing his co-workers was a bit of a struggle.

“I called the rest of the group members but none of them believed me,” he said.

Ketheeswaran Thurairajasingam/OLG

The group had won a Maxmillions prize worth $1 million in the October 14, 2022, Lotto Max draw.

Amirthalinkam said, “It was a big shock for all of us.”

Wright added, “Lotto Max is now our favourite game!”

Split five ways, the members get to take home $200,000 each and they all have different plans for their winnings: Sanmugarajah and Amirthalinkam will be using it to buy a home, while Wright is headed for warmer climes with a trip to Aruba.

But first, celebrations are in order.

“We’re all planning to go for a fancy celebratory dinner,” said Wright.

The group’s winning ticket was purchased at Luzon Convenience on Copper Creek Drive in Markham.