A man involved a bitter legal battle with his ex-girlfriend over a $6.1million lottery ticket he claims belongs solely to himself, is now suing a gaming commission for not cooperating with his wishes.
In a third party lawsuit filed in Windsor, Ontario, Maurice Thibeault is asking $825,000 in damages from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario which he claims wrongly withheld half of the hefty winnings he won through the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.
He is seeking $250,000 for ‘negligent investigation, tortious interference in contractual relations, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of statutory duty,’ as well as $500,000 for punitive damages and another $75,000 for special damages, according to The London Free Press.
Thibeault claims the AGCO failed to thoroughly investigate a related case in which his former partner Denise Robertson alleges he moved out of the house they shared together just a day after he won the Lotto jackpot they allegedly planned to split in September 2017.
Robertson filed a lawsuit against Thibeault earlier this year, seeking half the jackpot plus $500,000 in punitive damages.
OLG has paid Thibeault half the proceeds and is holding on to the other half, which would be paid to the court pending a decision in the case.
Maurice Thibeault won a $6.1million jackpot in September 2017. But he has so far only been given half of his winnings because his ex-girlfriend is claiming that she is owed half. He is now suing a gaming commission
‘Maurice is suing… for, in effect, negligent investigation,’ his lawyer, Richard Pollock, said in a statement to the London Free Press.
‘(He’s saying to the AGCO) had you done the investigation as the statute and regulations provide, I would have never been in this mess.’
AGCO could not be reached by DailyMail.com by phone late Thursday night.
Denise Robertson was in a relationship with Thibeault for two years and lived with her and her teenage daughter
An attorney who has worked in several lottery lawsuits, Michael Cochrane, told the newspaper Thibeault’s approach is risky.
‘For somebody to drag in the Alcohol and Gaming Commission on the basis that there was a negligent investigation really is, I would say, quite unusual,’ the Brauti Thorning Zibarras partner said.
‘It can backfire because that means people do dig in their heels and are forced to defend their investigation.
‘People aren’t going to sit there and say, “Oh, I guess you’re right, I did do a lousy job.” They’re going to defend their investigation.’
Robertson previously said she wants a jury trial in the $3.5 million case against Maurice Thibeault, who was her live-in boyfriend for more than two years.
Thibeault lived with Robertson and her teenage daughter in Chatham from July 2015 to September 2017.
‘It’s a question of morality,’ Steven Pickard told The Star estimating it could take 12 to 18 months for the case to be heard.
‘They always agreed that if they had a winning ticket, the proceeds would be theirs, together as a couple,’ a statement filed in court said.
‘Maurice and Denise have been buying Lotto 6/49 tickets together for almost their entire relationship. Sometimes he would purchase the tickets and sometimes Denise would. Sometimes Denise would give him money, and he would buy the tickets when he went to pick up cigarettes,’ the statement continued.
Robertson, right, claims that the couple had an agreement to split any big lottery win prizes
Thibeault has so far not commented on the case however friends have told The Star that there was no such ticket arrangement.
Acquaintances told the paper that he had been planning to end the relationship with Robertson for months and only managed to do so when he ‘got lucky’ by winning the lottery.
The lawsuit against Thibeault has so far prevented her from receiving a penny of the winnings after a court injunction stopped the Ontario Lottery and Gaming’s Toronto prize center from paying him the full amount.
Pickard, Roberton’s lawyer, accused him in the statement of claim of ‘deceit, arrogance, high-handedness and a callous disregard for Denise and her rights.’
The lucky ticket with the numbers 6, 17, 29, 37, 45, and 47 was one of two winners in the September 20 jackpot of $12.2 million.
Robertson, a federal public servant, is also seeking accrued interest on what she says is her share of the winnings and money to cover her legal costs.
Thibeault, left, moved out of the home the couple shared the day following his big lottery win
The day after the draw, Robertson heard on a local radio station that there were winning tickets in Chatham and Quebec, and texted Thibeault, a granite installer at the time, asking if he bought a 6/49 for it, according to the statement of claim.
Robertson then decided to sue the lottery company for half of the winnings which she claims are in fact hers
‘Yes,’ he wrote.
‘OMG… check it!!!’ Robertson replied.
When they both got home later that day Thibeault then allegedly lied to her and ‘made it clear to Denise that they did not have the winning ticket,’ the claim continues.
The following day, she got home and was ‘shocked to see that Maurice had packed up and removed all of his clothes, his toiletries and most of his other personal items and his Canadian passport.’
Thibeault then texted his boss to say he had quit, saying ‘Denise and I are no longer together. Since I left her Monday another life-changing thing has happened’, posting a picture of the lottery ticket.