A LOTTERY winner has been denied millions after making a crucial mistake with their ticket.

Canadian accountant Joe Ifergan was left heartbroken in 2015 after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that he couldn’t claim his share of a $27million (USD 36.1million) jackpot.

2

2

Ifergan was initially denied a share after discovering he had a winning ticket because he missed a deadline to purchase it by seven seconds, per The Guardian.

On May 23, 2008, the accountant headed to a convenience store for the evening’s Lotto Super 7 drawing just before 9.00pm — the deadline for getting a ticket.

A store clerk supposedly told Ifergan to hurry before time was up, according to court documents, as he bought two slips for the drawing.

At 8.59pm Ifergan registered the first ticket, and the second was entered late on the Loto-Quebec computer by seven seconds, making it eligible for the drawing in the following week.

The store clerk then proceeded to tell Ifergan that the second slip was entered late and asked if he still wanted to purchase it, which the accountant said he did, court documents noted.

That second ticket turned out to be the winning one, which only Ifergan and one other Canadian resident had gotten, and he was denied his share due to late registration.

Ifergan later sued Loto-Quebec for a “processing lag,” but after a seven-year legal battle, his appeal was turned away, and the money was left with the other winner.

If the accountant had been seven seconds quicker, he would be around $13.5million (USD 18million) richer.

Although the outcome was likely disappointing for Ifergan, lottery winnings can bring unexpected challenges.

Several other winners have diminished their earnings in varying ways, and others were even sued by family members for the entirety of their jackpot.

Lotto Andrew Stoltmann explained in an exclusive conversation with The U.S. Sun that he had seen at least ten “lottery losers” without their cash after a short period.

The lawyer noted that the two biggest drains of those funds come from spending recklessly and family wanting a piece of the winnings.

Not to mention, at least 90 percent make an initial mistake by taking the lump sum option instead of annuity payments, according to Stoltman.

As The U.S. Sun previously reported, a similar decision led Vipan Kumar from Nassau County, New York, to take home $3,255,000 after required withholdings from a $5million win.

This also puts winners in a difficult position initially with having access to all the funds, as lawsuits could come out of nowhere, as it did for Mega Millions jackpot winner Rebecca Jemison in 2003.

Jemison was sued by Elecia Battle after the latter claimed that she had originally been the ticket holder, but it had fallen out of her purse and onto the street outside a store in the Cleveland suburb of South Euclid, CNN reported.

Battle then dropped the lawsuit a year later.

“I wanted to win,” Battle publicly said at the time.

“I did buy a ticket, and I lost it. I wanted to win so bad for my kids, my family.”

Battle was later found guilty of falsifying a police report.

She had to complete 50 hours of community service and a year of probation.

Battle also had to pay over $5,500 in restitution for the week that South Euclid police had to spend looking for the ticket and was fined an extra $1,075.

For more related content, check out The U.S. Sun’s coverage of a person who was left with only $84,000 from a $1million jackpot as their colleague collected the rest.

The U.S. Sun also has the story on a $2million jackpot that took one winner three months to claim.

 121 total views,  2 views today