TORONTO – Three Toronto bakery employees accepted a $50-million cheque from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Association on Wednesday.
Zdzislaw Modlinski, Eugeniusz Borek and Wlodzimierz Konieczny – colleagues and friends for 20 years – won the prize in the March 11 draw, but didn’t discover they were winners until Monday.
The $50-million ticket was on the top of a stack purchased by Modlinski and his two friends.
"After work I came home and I said I’ll just try checking the first number . . . And I check it and I can’t believe it, I can’t believe it, I said ‘This is mine!’ I was screaming, jumping, crying . . . I was very happy inside," Modlinski said.
Borek said he was feeling lucky about the group’s ticket prior to the draw.
"Two days before the draw, I had a dream that I was pushing a wheelbarrow full of money with two other guys," he said. "The next day, I had a dream that I was opening up a car wash and a gas station and a couple of other small businesses."
"I’m pleased that we’ve had so many winners from Ontario," said a representative from the Ontario Lottery Gaming Association. "Since September 2009 we’ve had eight jackpot winners from Ontario. There’s quite a buzz generated over the last few weeks as the jackpot continued to grow and grow," she said.
If the men split the money in equal parts, they will each receive $16.6 million.
Previous large Lotto Max wins in the province brought on controversy.
Last month nine call centre employees filed a lawsuit against 19 of their co-workers seeking a cut of a $50-million Lotto Max jackpot they won.
Earlier workers with Bombardier in north Toronto were told that their $50-million jackpot payout would be delayed due to additional claimants coming forward.
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