Mega Millions jackpot winner claims he purchased both $394M prize tickets — but lost second one as he sues California lottery
He’s hoping to earn double.
A Mega Millions player alleges he is the rightful owner of the two jackpot-winning tickets sold at the same California gas station last year, but lost the second ticket — as the time to claim the award has expired.
Faramarz Lahijani publicly stepped forward in June to claim his half of the $394 million prize for the drawing that was held on Dec. 8, 2023.
The life-changing tickets were sold at a Chevron gas station on Ventura Boulevard in Encino, Calif., and worth $197.5 million each.
The second ticketholder was given a full year from the drawing — until Dec. 7 — to claim the reward.
Last week, Lahijani filed a lawsuit against the California Lottery claiming he had purchased the mysterious missing ticket but had lost it.
In a breach-of-contract suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Dec. 6, hours before the expiration date, Lahijani argued he is the rightful winner of the remaining $197.5 million.
“By virtue of his having timely submitted the first matching ticket, plaintiff is entitled to the entirety of the jackpot,” according to the suit obtained by the Patch.
Lahijani alleges that his children picked the winning numbers — 21, 26, 53, 66, 70, and gold Mega Ball 13 — and he has been using the digits for decades.
The lottery player had filed a claim with the state on Dec. 4.
The Post has reached out to the California Lottery.
Lahijani declined to publicly comment when claiming the first ticket prize in June. Lottery officials gave several reasons how the same numbers could’ve been played at the same store.
“While this is incredibly unsual and interesting, it’s not unheard of,” said Carolyn Becker, California Lottery spokesperson, said last year. “There are any number of explanations; perhaps one person wanted to try their luck on two different rows for whatever reason, or maybe a couple of buddies wanted to try their chances with the same exact numbers. We won’t know exactly how this happened until the prize is claimed.”
Despite the unknown outcome of the ongoing lawsuit, the Encino Chevron still made history.
The ultra-lucky gas station was awarded a record bonus of over $1.9 million, the largest ever given to a single retailer in California Lottery history.
In the Golden State, retailers that sell a ticket worth over $1 million earn a bonus of half of 1 percent of the prize value up to a million dollars.
Chevron earned a bonus of $987,500 from each winning ticket sold, totaling $1.975 million.
Mega Million players have a chance to end the year on a high note as Friday’s drawing is estimated to be worth $670 million after there was no jackpot winner Tuesday night.
Tuesday’s winning numbers — 12, 14, 26, 48, 52 and the gold Mega ball of 21 — worth $619 million would’ve been the 10th-largest jackpot in the game’s history.
