Montreal man Seven seconds too late for $27 million lotto jackpot

Seven seconds too late for a $27m dollar payout. A Canadian man who bought a lottery ticket just seven seconds too late to be declared the winner has lost his court bid to appeal over a decision denying him half of the 27 million dollar prize.

On the evening of May 23, 2008, Ifergan went to a depanneur to buy two tickets for that night’s draw. One ticket was printed at 8:59 p.m., and was thus valid for that night’s draw; the other was printed after 9 p.m., and was dated for a week later.

Later on that night, Ifergan experienced every lottery player’s worst nightmare — the ticket which carried the May 30 date has all seven winning numbers for May 23.

Ifergan had been advised by the store clerk that his lottery tickets were for different draws, and asked him if he still wanted to buy them. He agreed.

Ifergan filed suit against Loto-Quebec not long after the fateful draw, claiming a lag in processing on the part of Loto-Quebec caused him to miss out on the jackpot. He’s since spent more than $100,000 in accountant’s fees for his ultimately unsuccessful suit.

in 2012, he lost in Quebec Superior Court, and two years later, the Court of Appeal ruled against him.

Agencies/Canadajournal