Lotto winner feuding with ex over $6M prize now suing regulator
The complicated case of a winning $6.1-million Lotto 6/49 ticket just got a bit trickier — with embattled winner Maurice Thibeault now suing the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) for damages.
Thibeault bought the winning ticket in Chatham, Ont., last September but has been caught in a legal battle with ex-girlfriend Denise Robertson who claims she's owed half. She sued Thibeault after he got his half of the prize. The rest is being held onto, pending resolution between the two or court ruling.
And that's why Thibeault's suing the AGCO — the body that regulates the lotto program and oversees disputes.
He's seeking $825,000 in damages:
- $250,000 in general damages for "negligent investigation, tortious interference in contractual relations, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of statutory duty"
- $500,000 in "aggravated, exemplary and punitive damages"
- $75,000 in "special damages"
He's also looking for his legal costs to be covered. The claim states that Thibeault believes the "AGCO was negligent and breached its duty of care to him" in failing to properly investigate the situation.
Ray Kahnert, a spokesperson with the AGCO, acknowledges Thibeault has served the third party claim, which he said the commission will respond to.
"As such, it would not been appropriate for the AGCO to offer any additional comment."
'He is a good and honest man'
Thibeault and Robertson have been fighting since late last year, since finding out about the win. They were living together at the time. But Thibeault did not tell Robertson he had a winning ticket, moving out of her home days later.
She maintains they had an agreement to share any lottery winnings, which he continues to deny.
"This is no more complicated than a game of bingo," Thibeault's lawyer, Richard Pollock, told CBC Windsor earlier this year.
"He purchased a ticket, he won the ticket, he has claimed the prize. He is a good and honest man and what is at stake here is his reputation."
Pollock did not want to speak to the CBC about Thibeault's decision to sue the AGCO.
