Burnaby woman suing coworker for hiding $50-million Lotto Max ticket

A Burnaby woman who works at Shoppers Drug Mart has filed a civil lawsuit claiming that her coworker is hiding an unclaimed $50-million Lotto Max ticket that was purchased as a part of a workplace pool.

Gayleen Elliott submitted the lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court last week against Dalbir Sidhu for breach of contract, fraud and $52-million plus interest.

The winning ticket matching all seven numbers was purchased on March 14 in Langley. No winner has come forward even after several public pleas by the B.C. Lottery Corporation over the last few months for the winner to come forward.

The winning numbers for that Friday’s draw were 3, 4, 5, 7, 31, 33 and 40 with bonus number 49.

According to court documents, Elliott alleges that Sidhu has been hiding the tickets purchased using a pool of workspace lottery funds. Eight employees at a Burnaby Shopper Drugs Mart location were involved in the lottery pool, with each member contributing $5.00 every week. Sidhu was the employeee entrusted with purchasing the tickets every week and providing the group with the numbers of the tickets purchased.

Elliott also adds that Sidhu told her the tickets were purchased from the Esso gas station located on 152nd Street in Surrey on the day of the draw. He also said the tickets were inside a box that contained the pool’s other previously purchased lottery tickets, but when Elliott went to look the tickets were not in the box.

More recently, Sidhu sent the pool members an email informing them that he forgot to purchase the tickets.

However, it is unclear what clear evidence exists to support Elliott’s allegations that Sidhu is in possession of the ticket.

Individuals who buy lottery tickets by pooling money together should fill out the group release form or provide every individual with a photocopy of the lottery tickets purchased.

Feature Image: Canadian cash via Shutterstock