The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. has reached an undisclosed settlement with a Brampton man, who was mistakenly told he may have won $135,000 on misprinted tickets.
Thomas Noftall and his lawyer spoke with OLG officials Wednesday. An hour later, he emerged from the meeting and told reporters he understood that his tickets were not winners.
"I understand the rules. They've explained it to me. There was an error -- an error in communication," he said. "They explained to me how these tickets work, and I understand and accept it."
He still walked away with an undisclosed settlement, and said he would continue playing the lottery.
"Absolutely. I didn't win in the beginning, so I've bought my 6-49," Noftall said.
The OLG says up to 1,100 of three million $3 Fruit Smash lottery tickets had some misaligned or mismatched symbols underneath the latex surface that players scratch.
Noftall thought he had won the top prize of $75,000, plus an additional $60,000. There are million-to-one odds against winning one of the top prizes.
Two more scratch-and-win players came forward Wednesday, claiming they had won multi-thousand dollar prizes. CTV Toronto reporter Chris Eby said one player is from Belleville, Ont., the other from Toronto.
The situation with Noftall was unique because he had been erroneously told he would be paid despite the problems with his tickets.
"We are not responsible for paying non-winning tickets," Kelly McDougald, the corporation's CEO, told a news conference in Toronto on Wednesday.
Noftall's lawyer, David McFadden, said his client now understands the situation.
"We're satisfied with the explanation given to him and he's ready to move on with his life," he said.
With a report by CTV's Chris Eby in Toronto
