Mega Millions Winner Sues Lottery After Receiving Half of $394M Jackpot, Claims He Had Both Winning Tickets

Faramarz Lahijani has filed a lawsuit alleging he has only received half of the lottery prize for the Dec. 8, 2023 draw even though he claims to have bought both winning tickets Published on December 11, 2024 09:37AM EST Photo: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty A Mega Millions winner who alleges that he had both of the winning tickets for a $394 million jackpot is suing the California Lottery because he claims he has only received half of the total prize. In a lawsuit filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, Dec. 6, and obtained by PEOPLE, Faramarz Lahijani alleges that he has only gotten half of the approximate $394 million lottery prize for the Dec. 8, 2023 draw, despite purchasing two winning Mega Millions tickets. The complaint alleges that Lahijani is “entitled to the entirety of the jackpot” including the $197 million winnings of the second ticket, which he has been "unable to locate" since the draw. Both tickets were purchased at a Chevron gas station in Encino, Calif., according to the complaint. Lahijani claims he won the total jackpot with both tickets using the same numbers he has for 30 years — 21, 26, 53, 66, 70 and mega number 13. He says he has regularly used these same numbers for 30 years while playing the lottery and they were chosen "long ago" by his children. The Chevron gas station in Encino, Calif., where Faramarz Lahijani claims he bought both winning tickets. The suit also states that it has been determined by the California Lottery "that the matching tickets were the only matching tickets for the December 8, 2023 mega millions drawing with a jackpot of approximately $394 million." Lahijani also alleges that the California Lottery is "in possession of sufficient information to confirm" that he was the purchaser of both matching tickets and is "the sole and rightful winner of the $394 million mega millions lottery jackpot from December 8, 2023." According to the suit, Lahijani submitted a claim for the second winning ticket to the California Lottery on Dec. 4, shortly before the deadline for submitting a claim expired on Dec. 8. He then filed the complaint "out of an abundance of caution," the document states. Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty A spokesperson for the California Lottery told PEOPLE in a statement, "It would not be appropriate for the California Lottery to comment on an active lawsuit or any pending litigation to protect the integrity of the process involved."