The Lottery Shop Owner Who Said He Bought It Instead Turns Cold, Saying "It Belonged to Someone Else" After Winning 2 Billion Won

Called the lottery shop owner to proxy purchase 2 tickets
Sent purchase confirmation by photo and unexpectedly won
Went to claim but it was "someone else's" ticket, leading to legal dispute

A story has emerged from China about a lottery shop owner who bought lottery tickets on behalf of a customer and ended up winning first prize, leading to a conflict. On the 28th, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that Mr. Yao, from Shanxi Province in northern China, sent 20 yuan (about 4,000 won) to Mr. Wang, the owner of the lottery shop where he regularly purchased tickets, on July 17, 2019, asking him to buy two lottery tickets.

At that time, Mr. Wang randomly purchased two lottery tickets and sent photos of the tickets to Mr. Yao for verification. However, that afternoon, one of the tickets in the photos sent by Mr. Wang turned out to be the first prize winner, awarding 10 million yuan (about 2 billion won). Mr. Yao, excited, went to the shop to claim the prize but received a baffling response. Mr. Wang claimed, "The winning ticket was actually bought by someone else, and I mistakenly sent you the photo."

Instead, Mr. Wang offered 150,000 yuan (about 30 million won) as compensation for emotional distress and demanded that all chat records on the mobile phone be deleted. Feeling partly responsible, Mr. Yao agreed to accept the 150,000 yuan and delete all phone records.

However, two months later, Mr. Yao discovered that the person who collected the winning prize was actually Mr. Wang's cousin. The cousin reportedly received 8 million yuan (about 1.6 billion won) after tax deductions from the Shanxi Lottery Management Center.

Ultimately, Mr. Yao filed a civil lawsuit against Mr. Wang, claiming that he was the rightful owner of the winning lottery ticket. In October 2021, the Xi'an People's Court ruled in favor of Mr. Yao, ordering the first prize winnings to be returned to him and holding Mr. Wang jointly responsible for the prize money. Mr. Wang's side appealed the first-instance ruling. However, in July, the Higher People's Court confirmed the original ruling, citing a lack of evidence supporting the claim that the cousin purchased the ticket.

Although Mr. Yao won the lawsuit, he has yet to receive the prize money months later. The court seized Mr. Wang's bank accounts, but they were empty, and his home was not sold at auction. Mr. Yao stated, "Before this incident, I lived an ordinary life. But I have spent all my savings on legal fees and paid hundreds of thousands of yuan in attorney costs. How can I not worry about making a living?"