B.C. man launches suit over $50-million lottery win

A British Columbia man is taking the province's lottery agency to court, saying he is the rightful winner of a $50-million jackpot handed out earlier this month.

The winners of the March 2014 draw were a mystery for 21 months before the B.C. Lottery Corporation handed the prize to Langley residents Friedrich Mayrhofer and his family last Tuesday.

Officials said the reason for the delay was that the Mayrhofers had tried to claim the prize anonymously through a trust, something the BCLC ultimately determined couldn't be allowed for the sake of transparency.

Now, George Wilson-Tagoe of Maple Ridge says in a notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme court this week that he purchased the ticket from a gas station on his way to work on in March 2014, but later lost it.

B.C. Lottery Corporation spokeswoman Angela Koulyras says the agency will be filing a defence against the allegations.

She says the lottery corporation reviewed 739 different claims before awarding the massive prize to a Langley, B.C, family on Dec. 15, nearly two years after the Lotto Max draw