A Canadian man is suing 16 of his former co-workers for allegedly chopping him out of their $1 million lottery winnings after being in a ticket pool with them for years.
Philip Tsotsos, of Windsor, Ontario, mentioned he looks like he was stabbed within the again after not receiving his share of the loot from the 2021 Max Lotto ticket and has filed a civil go well with claiming he’s the seventeenth winner.
“I took care of those guys like they had been household,” Tsotsos advised The U.S. Sun.
“These are my buddies. It hurts right here,” he mentioned, pointing to his coronary heart, “greater than it hurts my pockets.”
Each participant within the syndicate pocketed $62,500 after the large win. If Tsotsos had been included, they every nonetheless would have acquired $58,000.
Tsotsos is demanding $70,000 and prices plus curiosity in his lawsuit.
“I’m not backing off on this till I see it by way of. They f**ked me and I’ll have my day in courtroom over this,” he mentioned.
A press release of protection filed by the 16 defendants in Ontario claims that the defendants weren’t buddies with Tsotsos — and even knew him in any respect.
“The defendants particularly deny that any of them had been ever ‘shut buddies’ or ‘good buddies’ with the plaintiff,” the doc mentioned. “Some of the defendants had been the plaintiff’s co-workers. Others didn’t know him in any respect.”
Tsotsos maintained that whereas he didn’t know everybody within the pool, as some had been from one other office, he was good buddies with others.
The backwards and forwards authorized battle, he mentioned, has change into private assaults on his character, shattering seven years of friendship, he mentioned.
“So for seven years, I used to be good…in two weeks I turned Jeffrey Dahmer in the case of the lottery,” he advised The Sun. “I turned some monster they couldn’t belief.”
After altering jobs, he mentioned the friendships remained robust sufficient that members of the group would textual content him forward of a significant drawing and ask him if he wished in.
He didn’t pay into the pool within the occasion of the successful ticket. The understood settlement was that he would pay into the pool the following time he noticed members of the group once more, since he not labored with him.
“Mr. Tsotsos didn’t pay to play, so we deny that he’s entitled to any of the aid that he’s in search of, and we’ll be vigorously defending the declare,” mentioned protection lawyer David Robins, who represents the winners.
“In this occasion, he didn’t play and he was not included.”
Tsotsos’ lawyer Joseph Deluca mentioned that they will show he was a member of the pool by way of textual content messages, which Deluca says quantity to a “clear contract.”
“Everything I’ve in texts is previous to the draw… I can let you know it’s nothing however excuses,” Tsotsos mentioned.
