A Canadian man is suing a group of his friends after he didn’t get a share of their $1 million Canadian lottery win. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Bet on his claim
A Canadian pizza delivery man is suing his friends after they didn’t give him a portion of their C$1 million ($776,003) lottery win. Phillip Tsotsos is looking for compensation of C$70,000 ($54,320) plus interest and has blasted a group of 16 friends for “stealing his dreams”.
Their dreams came true. Why do they steal what I have? “
The Syndicate was able to win the Maxmillion jackpot last summer from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation of Canada. Tsotsos claims he should get a share even though friends said he didn’t pay for a portion of the winning ticket. He said: Why didn’t they tell me they won? These guys are like family to me. Their dreams came true. Why do they steal what I have? “
opposing viewpoints
David Robbins, the lawyer for the 16 friends in the case, said Tsotsos had no right to compensation because he did not pay for a portion of the winning ticket. He asserted that the Friends would “vigorously defend” this claim.
According to friends, the lottery pool was halted for a while during the pandemic but resumed in March 2021. Presumably a pool member texted Tsotsos in June, shortly before the big win, to confirm he’s still there.
In turn, Tsotsos argued that he does not immediately pay his share of lottery tickets. During the six years that the union was operating, he contributed to the assembly on the credit system. The Ontario resident recalled the times in the past when he owed money to the group but always paid off his debts in the end.
fight corner
Around the time of the jackpot, Tsotsos’s tab owed C$30 ($23.28), which the syndicate’s organizer told him to pay off the debt owed, plus an additional C$10 ($7.76) if he wanted to stay in the pool.
The guild uses the withdrawal system
After saying it would pay C$40 ($31.04) by Friday, the pair joked about taking the amount owed from the potential winnings. Tsotsos claims that the guild used an opt-out system, which means that he could not have been disqualified without informing him of it first.
The group of 16 friends received C$62,500 ($48,523) from the win. If Tsotsos is part of the victory, the stake will be C$58,000 ($4,508 USD).
Tsotsos only discovered the syndicate’s victory via social media in October. Explaining how he found out about the news after buying a pizza for a group of friends, he said, “The same guy who eats my pizza carries a check for a million dollars, and that’s what I found out.”
