A lottery winner who scooped a $1.39 million jackpot has been accused of stealing the win by members of his workplace syndicate.
Mandeep Singh Maan, from Surrey in British Columbia, claimed prize money totaling $2 million Canadian, around $1.39 million American, in August of 2022.
At the time of his win he worked for a freight company as a truck driver where he and four co-workers were all part of a lottery pool.
Maan and his colleagues Balvinder Kaur Nagra, Sukhjinder Singh Sidhu, Binipal Singh Sanghera and Jeevan Pedan would all chip in on tickets in hopes of winning big.
When Maan scooped his millions however, the four were kept in the dark until a picture of him holding a check with his prize money was shared by online.
Initially congratulating him, they started to grow suspicious and filed a lawsuit claiming the winning ticket was purchased as part of their lottery pool.
They said that the winnings should be split between them all.
But Maan remained adamant that the ticket and the jackpot were rightfully his and that he purchased the ticket not using their pooled funds..
In a judgement released last week by Justice Y. Liliane Bantourakis she sided with Maan.
Mandeep Singh Maan, seen here, claimed prize money totaling $2 million Canadian, around $1.39 million American, in August of 2022
In the filing, it was revealed that the core issue was down to whether Mann bought the winning ticket using group money.
Records from the gas station he purchased the ticket from indicate he spent $12 on a number of BC/49 and Lotto 6/49 tickets.
The amount that transaction amounted to was key in the decision, with group purchases normally going anywhere from $40 to $50.
The ruling said: ‘I find that if Mr. Maan had been using group money or tickets, or otherwise buying for the group, the total amount spent on tickets would likely have been significantly more.’
The plaintiffs attempted to argue that they were entitled to their share of the winnings even if he did not use group funds.
They said that he had breached their agreement with them by not buying tickets for the group.
Judge Bantourakis rejected this, finding there was no evidence that he had agreed to buy tickets for the group on the date in question or a ‘binding’ agreement.
She wrote: ‘The fact that the parties bought lottery tickets together, even if they did so with some frequency, is not sufficient to discharge the plaintiffs’ burden of proving on a balance of probabilities that they entered into a binding oral agreement with the defendant that would give them a claim over the winning ticket.’
Maan is from Surrey in British Columbia, Canada, which is seen here
She continued: ‘Though the plaintiffs may feel that they have a moral entitlement to a share of the winnings, they have not established any legal entitlement. Their claim is therefore dismissed.’
Speaking after his win, Maan said in a statement issued through the BC Lottery Corporation that: ‘When I learned I won, I was in my truck and started shaking.
‘I told my wife and she started crying. She woke up our kids and they started crying as well – at first, they thought something bad happened!’
He added: ‘It feels great, I feel very lucky to have won the lottery. It’s going to make things smoother for helping my kids.’
Speaking with the Vancouver Sun on Monday, he told the outlet: ‘I’m so relieved right now. The reputation of my family was on the line.’
