TORONTO – Call them the Super 7.
There were smiles, cheers and high-fives Thursday as seven regular Joes allegedly cheated out of a Super 7 lottery jackpot held up their $14.85-million cheque.
"This stuff doesn’t happen to people like us," said one of the newly minted millionaires, Adam Barnett, of Grimsby, Ont., who operates a backhoe for a living.
The southern Ontario construction workers were identified as the "rightful" winners of the Boxing Day 2003 jackpot which had been paid out to alleged fraudsters.
Working together at Bethlehem Trenching in Burlington, Ont., seven years ago, the men regularly played the lottery, always with quick pick tickets.
They never photocopied their tickets or kept track of the numbers. The most they’d ever won was $80.
Police allege the men were never handed their jackpot-winning ticket, which was a free play ticket they had won, when they validated a ticket at a Burlington convenience store.
In September 2010, police charged a convenience store worker and his two children with fraud.
The trio are accused of cashing in the $12.5-million prize in December 2004 and living the high life – buying five luxury cars, two homes in the Toronto area, commercial properties, fancy jewelry and electronics.
The charges set off a high-tech search for the "rightful" winners.
Barnett saw a news truck outside the convenience store and the story on the news the night the search was announced. The store is next to a Tim Hortons where they used to get coffee, he said.
They talked over whether they could be the winners but waited months to come forward, he said.
"We basically just thought it was a one-in-a-million chance," said another of the winners, Jim Reaman, 40, of Ridgeville. "Apparently it was."
The men joked they’d have been broke by now if they’d received their money in 2003.
Ontario Lottery and Gaming chairman Paul Godfrey said the agency plans to sue the alleged fraudsters.
Some 661 people were interviewed by police before the lucky seven were the identified.
The gaming corporation’s Data Analysis and Retrieval Technology (DART) system was instrumental in the probe, Godfrey added. The program creates a profile of the buyer of each ticket, which can then be used to narrow down the original buyer when there is a disputed lottery jackpot.
After collecting their winnings – with interest – the seven men said they plan to keep working.
Two of them are still at Bethlehem Trenching while the others have moved on.
They beamed when asked how they’ll each spend their $2.12 million share.
For Michael Maddocks of Beamsville, it was a double celebration. He turns 36 on Friday.
"This is the best birthday present I’ll ever have probably," smiled Maddocks.
Daniel MacGregor, 36, of Burford, was "just thrilled" to win.
"I’m going to pay off the mortgage and probably buy a pretty expensive truck," the father of two said as his friends laughed.
Daniel Campbell, 37, of St. Catharines, who’s single, said it’s a "big deal" that he can help family. But he admitted he’s overwhelmed.
Jason Dykema, 34, of Burlington echoed that sentiment.
"My wife and I wanted to move into a bigger home and now it’s happening," he said.
Barnett, a father of one, plans to pay off the mortgage, help his family and travel.
"It’ll just make life a helluva lot easier, right?"
The win is "awesome" for Jim Reaman who’s single with two children and pondering buying property.
His 35-year-old brother Joseph, who’s married with one child, knows where some money will go.
"I’ve got a baby on the way and he’s pretty much set for life," Reaman said.
Police seized or froze about $10 million in assets from the convenience store worker and his children.
Jun-Chul Chung, 60, Kathleen Chung, 29, and Kenneth Chung, 28, face several charges, including fraud over $5,000 and possession under $5,000.
Police allege the father gave the ticket to his daughter, who claimed the prize and denied she had a connection to a lottery retailer.
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