A trademark can be a number, like Lotto 6/49.Kevin Van Paassen
Ontario lottery staff and police are being inundated with callers claiming ownership of an allegedly stolen $12.5-million jackpot, officials said Thursday.
The search for the "rightful" owner of the ticket - announced Wednesday after three family members were charged with stealing the windfall - has seen at least 137 people call.
Ontario Lottery and Gaming has said it has a profile of the lottery spending habits of the unknown person who bought the ticket in St. Catharines, Ont. and redeemed it in nearby Burlington in December 2003.
The gaming corporation is asking the callers detailed questions before forwarding the cases to provincial police, said OLG spokesman Tony Bitonti.
"All the calls that come in are recorded. We get some pertinent information from the caller. We ask them a couple of questions about the customer profile that we made public," Bitonti said.
"Some people are calling and are not providing the proper answers that we require and they are being disqualified."
Mr. Bitonti says 87 people called OLG offices in less than 24 hours.
Twenty cases claiming ownership of the ticket have met the criteria and have been forwarded to provincial police for further investigation. Twenty-seven more have been ruled out.
OLG staff will call the remaining claimants, and expect more to come forward.
Mr. Bitonti said 87 may not sound like a large number, but staff normally take about four claims calls per day.
Police say they've received about 50 calls.
On Wednesday, police accused a Toronto-area convenience store employee and his two children of stealing a free ticket that went on to win $12.5 million.
They say the family has spent the last seven years living the high life off the windfall.
Jun-Chul Chung and his children, Kathleen and Kenneth Chung, face a string of charges, including fraud and money laundering. Jun-Chul Chung and Kenneth Chung are also charged with theft.