Joel Ifergan thought he had won a share of a £14million jackpot, but a seven-second error meant he never saw a penny. The incident occurred in Quebec, Canada, in 2008 when he bought lottery tickets for the Lotto Super 7 draw.
The seven-second mistake
Joel went into a convenience store shortly before the 9pm deadline on May 23, 2008, to buy tickets for that night's draw. The store worker urged him to hurry, and Joel believed he had successfully purchased two tickets. The clock on the lottery terminal read 8.59pm.
Unfortunately, only one ticket was registered in time. The second ticket was registered on the Loto-Quebec website seven seconds after the deadline, making it eligible for the following week's draw. That second ticket would have been entitled to a share of the C$27million jackpot, but the entire sum was claimed by another winner.
Legal battle
Rather than accept his bad luck, Joel pursued a legal route. He spent seven years battling through the Canadian court system, with the Supreme Court of Canada eventually rejecting his appeal. The Quebec Superior Court and the Quebec Court of Appeal had earlier ruled against him.
Joel, an accountant, estimates he spent around £53,000 on the fruitless legal case. He said: "I'm really disappointed in the decision, and it's not because it's about the money. It's a question of fairness. A transaction initiated before 9 PM should be honored."
Joel argued that had he bought the ticket anywhere else in Canada, he would have been a millionaire, as other provinces process all purchases made before 9pm. He said: "Yes, it cost me a lot of money, but it also consumed me for seven years. My crusade is up, I've done all I can, I spent enough money going to the Supreme Court."
Reactions
Loto-Quebec spokesman Jean-Pierre Roy expressed satisfaction with the Supreme Court's decision, saying the original judgement was "clear and convincing that Loto-Quebec procedures were altogether reliable and integrated and were the right ones."
The convenience store owner who sold Joel the tickets, Mehernosh Iranpur, said the customer knew the second ticket was for the following week's draw.
