The newly-minted Lotto millionaire in New Zealand is yet to claim the winnings following the Super Saturday Lotto Powerball draw which saw a winning ticket take home NZ$24 million ($14.88 million).
Mouth-Watering Win
Made up of NZ$1 million ($620,000) from Lotto First Division and NZ$23 million ($14.26 million) from Powerball, the mouth-watering winning is about to mint the 17th multi-millionaire in 2022 alone with one of the largest winnings to date.
The mystery winner bought the winning Lotto ticket at Bell Block Supermarket in New Plymouth and the manager at the supermarket is eagerly anticipating the meeting with him personally, doubting whether he sold the winning ticket.
“It is four of us working in the store and usually I am on the shift when most tickets are sold,” Bell Block Supermarket manager Jassi Singh said, feeling that it may have been his hand that handed the Lotto ticket to the lucky winner.
For Singh, there is a personal aspect as one of the grocery store’s regular female customers promised to take him on a special trip to Dubai, flying first class, dining at a Michelin restaurant and staying at one of Dubai’s top hotels.
Latest Multi-Million Winnings
The whopping win from the Super Saturday Lotto Powerball draw marks the latest occasion on which the Lotto minted a millionaire, following shortly after a couple in Wellington won NZ$16 million ($9.36 million).
According to the statement released by Lotto’s communications team a week after the win was registered, the couple who won the Powerball First Division was hardly Lotto regulars: according to the man, he used to buy tickets only when the jackpot is huge and that evening that was exactly the case as the MyLotto jackpot was NZ$ 15 million ($8.78 million). Unsurprisingly, he could not believe his luck until the next day when an official confirmation call from Lotto NZ arrived.
In mid-August, the Lotto sent one lucky player from Kaikōura on cloud nine after the NZ$8.2 million ($5.08 million) win made the player the 13th lucky Lotto winner of the year. The winning comprised NZ$200,000 ($124,000) from Lotto First Division and NZ$8 million ($4.96 million) from Powerball First Division.
The win came just a fortnight after the Lotto minted another millionaire after a lucky player from Lower Hutt won NZ$6.5 million ($4.03 million) with Powerball First Division.