A Quebec man who spent seven years fighting for a share of a $27-million jackpot that he missed by seven seconds is now asking the public for donations.
Joel Ifergan says he owes $250,000 after the Supreme Court of Canada refused in January to hear his appeal and simultaneously ordered that he pay court costs.
“This has placed a heavy burden on me and my family,” he wrote in an email announcing the Help Joel with Lotto Legal Fees appeal on the crowd-funding site GoFundMe.
“I went from living everybody’s dream to experiencing the worst nightmare,” he added.
Ifergan stopped by a Montreal-area convenience store in on Friday, May 23, 2008 and bought two Super 7 tickets at 8:59 p.m.
The printer issued two tickets – one before 9 p.m. and one seven seconds after 9 p.m. The latter ticket came out dated May 30. It had the May 23 winning numbers.
Ifergan argued all along that he was owed the money because he entered into a contract to purchase the tickets before 9 p.m.
Loto-Quebec didn’t see it that way. Neither did the Quebec Superior Court in 2012 or the Quebec Court of Appeal in 2014.
Loto-Quebec spokesman, Jean-Pierre Roy, said in January that he was satisfied with the Supreme Court's decision not to hear the appeal.
Ifergan says on his crowd-sourcing campaign website that donors will receive “a signed copy of my winning ticket that cost me so much!”
With files from The Canadian Press and CTV Montreal
