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Unlucky winner: punter in China holds ticket for 2m yuan lottery prize but misses claim deadline
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 11 October, 2015, 3:58pm
UPDATED : Sunday, 11 October, 2015, 4:54pm
Kwong Man-ki
[email protected]
Employees at the sports lottery management centre launched a campaign to alert the winner, but without success. The forfeited prize will be used to fund social welfare. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Someone bought the winning ticket for a lottery prize in southern China worth more than 2 million yuan, but the punter never stepped forward to claim the money before the deadline, a media website has reported.
Employees at the sports lottery management centre on Hainan Island said it was the largest unclaimed prize in the province’s history.
The winning ticket was bought for 10 yuan from an outlet in Haikou city, the Hinews.cn website reported. The draw for the prize of 2.07 million yuan (HK$2.53 million) was done on August 11, and under mainland lottery rules, prize-winners have 60 days to collect the money.
As the weeks began to pass, and no one stepped forward, lottery officials began to post notices and banners at outlets, in an attempt to alert the punter. The deadline passed this Saturday, and the unclaimed prize has gone into the lottery fund.
The fund helps pay for social welfare services, including education, health care, as well as subsidies for the disabled, according to the report.
Last year, unclaimed lottery prizes nationwide hit 1.68 billion yuan.
Staff from the Hainan lottery centre reminded people to check their tickets through newspapers, TVs or websites.
The tickets are printed on special paper so the writing won’t fade in the southern province’s humid climate.
