Time to spring clean: $7.2 million still on loose, five days after Lotto drawn

Monday, 17 September 2018

Vinod Bhga says this is the first time Pak 'n Save Silverdale has sold a first division winning ticket.

Almost a week after being drawn, a Lotto ticket worth $7.2 million is yet to be claimed.

The winning Powerball ticket was purchased at Pak 'n Save Silverdale in north Auckland and drawn on September 12.

Lotto's head of corporate communications, Kirsten Robinson said, Lotto was urging players to check their tickets.

'We are encouraging anyone who bought their ticket from Pak 'n Save Silverdale recently to do a bit of spring clean — clear those wallets, clean out your kitchen drawers and rummage through the glovebox.

**READ MORE:

The lucky Lotto player is yet to come forward and claim their $7.2 million.

* Check your back pocket, $7.2M could be yours**

*** The Winner's Room: Behind the scenes of a Lotto draw

Silverdale Pak'nSave owner Vinod Bhaga says his staff were excited to have sold the lucky ticket.

* Winning tickets sold in two New Plymouth New Worlds**

'You never know, that little yellow piece of paper tucked away somewhere special, could be worth $7.2 million.'

Winning Lotto and becoming New Zealand's next millionaire seems like a dream, yet many people go about their lives not realising they have treasure in their back pocket, a media release from Lotto NZ said.

Pak 'n Save Silverdale sold the winning $7.2M Powerball ticket.

Most winning Lotto tickets were pulled from people's wallets, while some people forgot about them and found them in the most peculiar places - including underwear drawers, backpacks, in the desk at work, hidden in the car, and even tucked inside phone cases.

Last year, a Warkworth winner discovered he was $19.1 million better off after checking a Powerball ticket that was stashed in his car.

'It was a busy weekend, so I didn't have a clue that someone in Warkworth had won a big prize.'

The winner popped into his local supermarket to pick up dinner when he learned just how much that the ticket that had been lurking in his car for almost a week was worth.

'If I had known, I probably wouldn't have driven around all weekend with a very valuable ticket under my seat,' the man said in the media release.

In other instances, people had put their ticket in a 'safe' place and forgotten where that was.

In 2013, a Christchurch winner found his $666,666 winning ticket in his 'odds and ends' drawer five months later.

'I was looking for some sticky tape to wrap my dad's birthday present when I discovered a handful of old Lotto tickets.

'When I checked them online, I discovered that I was the missing Lotto First Division winner that everyone was talking about.'

All winning tickets are valid for 12 months from the date of the draw to claim their prize.

Any prizes that remain unclaimed after this date are returned to the Prize Reserve Fund for future prizes and promotions.

For more information visit mylotto.co.nz or call 0800 695 6886.