Canadian Lottery Win Ends Up At Courts

Cdn$ 12.6 million lottery dispute between business partners

A simple husband-and-wife purchase of a Canadian lottery ticket four years ago has now grown into a complicated dispute between business partners, and this week British Columbia court has refused to make a summary judgment referring the case for a full court hearing.

It all started when Maria Fehr was allegedly given a $20 bill by her husband to buy a lottery ticket in Surrey, BC, and the ticket won Cdn$ 12.6 million. The win caught the attention of Fehr's business partner, Maria Ganguin, who evoked a partnership agreement that money from the business could be occasionally used to buy lottery tickets, with winnings shared between the two women.

Ganguin then claimed half the big win, which Fehr refused claiming the buy-in came from her husband and not money from the jointly owned business. Subsequently, the dispute reached the British Columbia Supreme Court, with Fehr and her husband applying for a summary trial to resolve the matter quickly based primarily on sworn statements.

Despite a lack of evidence for her claim, Justice Trevor Armstrong ruled that Ganguin, should be allowed to test her business partner's credibility at a full trial.

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