B.C. court rules on disputed $2M lottery pool win that ‘ruined relationships’

A B.C. man won't have to share his $2 million lottery prize, after a B.C. court rejected his coworkers'  claim the payout was a part of their lottery pool.

A B.C. man won’t have to share his $2 million lottery prize, after a B.C. court rejected his coworkers’  claim the payout was a part of their lottery pool.

In a ruling published on Friday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Y. Liliane Bantourakis concluded that while Mandeep Singh Maan did participate in lottery pools in 2021 and 2022, there was no evidence the winning BC/49 ticket was purchased with group money.

“Winning the lottery should be a happy event. In this case, sadly, it has ruined relationships,” Bantourakis wrote.

According to the ruling, Mann’s coworkers at a freight and warehousing company claimed they regularly pooled $50 twice a week to buy lottery tickets. Maan, meanwhile, maintained the group only pooled cash for tickets occasionally, usually when there were high jackpots.

The coworkers alleged that between Aug. 12 and Aug. 15, 2022, the group had given Maan cash and a free play ticket from a previous buy, and agreed he’d purchase the next tickets. Maan denied this at trial and claimed he’d bought the ticket with his own money.

On Aug. 18, Maan discovered the ticket was a winner, but didn’t tell his coworkers. They discovered the win four days later, when the B.C. Lottery Corporation posted a photo of Maan holding the $2 million payout cheque.

In the days to come, the coworkers initially congratulated Maan, but later grew suspicious and claimed they should get a share of the winnings, according to the ruling. The group then filed a lawsuit in September.

In her ruling, Bantourakis highlighted discrepancies in the coworkers’ story about whether and when Maan was given group funds for the ticket, and found a lack of evidence about a consistent schedule or fixed contribution amount for past lottery ticket buys.