New York – Two lottery players who thought they’d both won $5 million jackpots on scratch-off games were told by Lottery officials they were the victims of a major mistake.
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Would you ever consider stiffing “Sopranos'” actor Vinny Vella? He says that what lottery officials are trying to do.
“I think it’s a smack in the face, what they’re doing to me right here,” Vella tells CBS 2.
Vella bought a $20 scratch-off and thought he had two “sevens,” giving him the $5 million winner. But when the card was scanned at a lottery office, he was told one of the sevens was actually a “17,” except that one didn’t print out.
“It’s wrong. It’s wrong. I bought the ticket in good faith. There’s a seven on the top and a seven on the bottom,” he says
Jeanne Consola, likewise, says her scratch-off had two “sixes” for a $5 million win. But lottery officials said one of the sixes should have read “26,” and did so in letters below the number.
“I feel this way: a contract is a contract. As far as winning, I feel I deserve the money. It isn’t my fault they made a mistake,” she says.
Lottery officials told the would-be winners it was a printing error, that the tickets were defective – a problem with the ink where the tickets were printed.
“They had a problem with ink, I didn’t have no problem with that ink. What should they do? I should get paid for that ticket,” says Vella.
The lottery recalled 4,500 of the tickets.Both frustrated players have filed suit through the same lawyer, Frank Blangiardo.
“Nowhere on the ticket does it say, ‘Void if it’s a misprint.’ So, we take contracts very seriously here in Little Italy,” says Blangiardo.
A spokeswoman for the lottery declined to comment because of the suit. But a lottery source says it’s a simple misprint issue and similar cases in the past have gone nowhere.
New York lottery officials say last year unclaimed prizes totaled $60 million.
The rules of any lottery in any state clearly state that they are not responsible for errors in the physical printing or electronic displays of their vendors. Why are they wasting their money on a lawyer in a losing case, unless the lawyer is also a loser who is taking the case on contingency.
give them $100,000 tax free
Absolutely not true. What law school did you graduate from? You are not qualified or credited to make statements such as the one above. Go sit back down on your couch and turn on the TV. Watch closely as this case is on every news channel in New York state tonight.
if they made this mistake then they most probably also made the opposite mistake too, for example if i got a 26 and a 6 it might have been two 26’s …………….
I think that they will get the money. How will you ever know if it is a misprint.
There have been many cases where coke or pepsi had some lottery where they had “special winning bottle caps” and then for some crazy reason they ended up with hundreds of winninng caps (because of a contractor error). They gave some consolatio prizes but did not pay out the big million dollar award to every one who found the “winning” caps.
It spelled out the number below. It’s clearly a printing mistake and any literate person should have read the numbers.
If the whole win only depends on a bat code then they should just sell Bar codes in those lottery stores.
Isn’t that the reason they have the numbers spelled out on the bottom???
Could u imagine their hearts pounding as they gave their lottery tickets in for claiming a prize. Each of these pple for a few seconds visualized themselves as having just won 5 million dollars!!!!!!
let them get the money if they dont want a dent in the lottery business its worth the investment
If they should get the money or not I don’t know, there are arguments to be made both ways, including that if there would have been a thousand winners, does anyone in their right mind think that all thousand people should get 5 million dollars a piece? So why should two winners be any different? On the other hand a contract is a contract and the Lottery should pay for their mistakes.
Either way they deserve some form of compensation for breaking their hearts. Here they and their family thought that they honestly won 5 million dollars and then they are told that it was a mistake? They might not have to pay for Nezek, Sheves and Boishes, but they should pay for Tzaar and if applicable Ripu.
That’s why whenever I win the lottery I throw away the ticket because it’s probably a misprint.
Lottery games, casinos, etc. are all terrible ways for the state to fund its activities. Either impose an honest tax that is agreed upon by elected representatives to pay for government services, or cut back on them. Encouraging gambling is morally corrosive strategy that does not, cannot, enhance our economy or quality of life.
Well I would suggest hiring an attorney it is a contract and where is it printed that we will pay you but if thier is by chance a misprint or an error sorry we can’t pay what does the contract state if it’s a binding contract then if you don’t pay you have breach in contract in which that is a reason for sueing