Lotto winner who lost ticket takes Maltco to court in battle to claim her winnings

A woman who claims to have lost her winning lotto ticket after being treated in hospital has filed a prohibitory injunction against lottery operator Maltco, seeking to prohibit the company from transferring her winnings to third parties, saying the matter is one of life and death.

The €820,000 Lotto Quaterno+ jackpot had been won on 18 May by a ticket bought from Qawra, but on 5 June, the operator issued a press release, explaining that the winnings had not yet been claimed and if the holder of the lucky ticket did not come forward by 17 July, the winnings would be donated to charity.

She explained that she had been trying her luck by playing the same numbers over the last nine months, always taking her old tickets to a Qawra point of sale to have them scanned and replaced with new tickets.

It was shortly after being discharged from hospital that she had misplaced the winning ticket which was inadvertently thrown away with the ‘old’ batch of tickets, she told the court in her application.

But the woman is arguing that she had indeed claimed the winnings, first informally, then by means of a judicial letter dated 20 June 2019, and then by means of a court case which was filed on 8 July 2019. In addition, she had successfully obtained the issuing of a warrant of description in order to retrieve I.T. data held by Maltco Lotteries Limited, that would strengthen her case.

Following media reports that the jackpot was to be donated to charity, the woman filed a prohibitory injunction today, seeking an order from the court to prohibit Maltco Lotteries Limited from transferring the winnings to third parties.

“My client would like to clarify that she appreciates the benefit derived by the money being given to the Good Causes Funds, and does a lot of charity herself,” said lawyer Carlos Bugeja, appearing on behalf of the woman.

“However, she has ample evidence proving that she bought the winning ticket, which unfortunately she was dispossessed of due to the ordeal of having been admitted to hospital because of grave and serious health issues.

“Indeed, due to these same health issues, for my client, this is a matter of literally life and death, and not one of simple monetary gain.”