A woman from Alberta Canada has commenced court proceedings against two men she alleges tried to steal her lottery winnings.
The incident in question happened in December of last year.
In a statement of claim filed in Edmonton's Court of Queen's Bench on Monday, September 8, 2014, Fairview resident Colleen Platzer, 43, claims she asked Wesley Smith, 26, to take three Canada Lotto 649 lottery tickets to a local Husky gas station and check if they were winners. Platzer says Smith agreed to do so and then tried to pocket the money for himself when he discovered one of the tickets had won CAD$ 100,000, in the October 19, 2013, Lotto 649 drawing.
Platzer further alleges Smith then told her that none of the tickets were winners.
Records at the Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC) show Smith filed a statement of claim at the WCLC office in St. Albert on December 17, 2013.
When Smith presented the ticket, lottery officials noticed the signature box on the reverse side of the ticket had been scratched, became suspicious, and refused to process the claim because it appeared as if Smith had substituted his name for that of another player.
Platzer contacted the WCLC on December 23, 2013, and told officials she was the rightful owner of the winning ticket.
Platzer also names Kenneth Carty as defendant in the lawsuit because he claimed joint ownership of the ticket on May 1, 2014.
The WCLC has deposited the winning in trust with Court of Queen's Bench until the matter can be resolved.
