Mysterious $50M Lotto Max winners finally revealed
Winning ticket was signed over to trust fund, complicating and delaying prize payout
The intrigue-filled mystery surrounding the winner of a $50-million Lotto Max prize drawn over a year-and-a-half ago was finally solved when the winning ticket holders publicly accepted their prize Tuesday in Vancouver.
Husband and wife Friedrich and Annand Mayrhofer, and son Eric, all from Langley, B.C., posed for pictures with the oversized novelty cheque, the very thing they had hoped to avoid.
"This is an enormous prize," said Friedrich Mayrhofer. "We didn't know what to do. But we're public now."
"We're shy, private people" he added. "So this is a big step for us."
The Mayrhofers had attempted to keep their identities private by signing the winning ticket over to a trust before it was presented to the B.C. Lottery Commission in March of 2015, a full year after the winning numbers had been drawn and just days before the deadline to claim the prize.
BCLC CEO Jim Lightbody called the circumstances "unique" leading to a lengthy prize claim review. In June of 2015 it was concluded only an individual or group of individuals can claim lottery winnings.
The Mayrhofers resubmitted a prize claim as a group last month.
The Mayrhofers say they have no plans to move out of the house they've lived in for 36 years, but will use some of the money to remodel and buy new furniture.