California Lottery Disputes $197.5 Million Prize for Man Who Lost One of Two Winning Tickets

Posted on: February 27, 2025, 05:17h. 

Last updated on: February 28, 2025, 09:22h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

The California Lottery shouldn’t be required to pay $197.5M to a man who claims he bought two winning lottery tickets at the same Encino, Calif., gas station — one of which he lost — according to lawyers for the lottery.

Faramarz Lahijani, California Lottery, lawsuit
Faramarz Lahijani, above, brandishes two lottery tickets for a Fox News photo op, even though he only has one that really counts, according to lawyers for the California Lottery. (Image: NBC/Casino.org)

The Dec. 8, 2023, Mega Millions jackpot of $394 million was split between two tickets, which the lottery has confirmed were both purchased from the same Chevron gas station.

The first half of the prize, $197.5 million, was collected by Encino resident Faramarz Lahijani in June 2024. Lahijani didn’t comment publicly about the win, telling the lottery officials he wasn’t interested in speaking to the media.

In December 2024, just days before the second ticket was due to expire, Lahijani sued the California Lottery in the Los Angeles Superior Court for the remaining $197.5 million.

Ticket Still Missing

The plaintiff asserted in his lawsuit that he purchased both tickets and is the “sole winner.” As such he is “entitled to the entire jackpot … by virtue of his having timely submitted the first matching ticket,” he claimed.

While Lahijani is still unable to locate the second ticket, he said he filed the lawsuit before its expiration date “out of an abundance of caution to preserve all rights which he has to the entire Dec. 8, 2023 Mega Millions jackpot.”

But in a filing this week to Judge Lia Martin in advance of an October 29 hearing, attorneys for the lottery said they were sticking to the rules.

“Payment of a Mega Millions prize without the submission of a valid winning ticket is expressly barred by the Mega Millions game Rules and by applicable California statutes and regulations,” asserts the filing.

Why Two Tickets?

Lahijani claims he chose the same numbers he has used for playing the lottery for 30 years, which were chosen by his children: 21, 26, 53, 66, 70, and the mega number, 13.

It’s unclear why he purchased two tickets with the same numbers when one would have had the same effect. The California Lottery has said the winning jackpot tickets were purchased “over two separate transactions” — a first.

One explanation could be that this was a superstitious ritual. Or he may have mistakenly bought the same numbers twice because out of habit because he forgot about the first purchase.

Another explanation is that the buyer bought the ticket for someone else unknown, something the plaintiff categorically denies.

Lahijani claims the lottery has sufficient information to know that he is the rightful winner of the whole kaboodle.

The purchase of lottery tickets creates a contractual relationship between the buyer and the California Lottery, which the latter is violating by not paying out, according to his lawsuit.