A group of New Jersey construction workers who pooled their money together and won the lottery are now suing the man who bought the original winning ticket, according to a report in the New York Post.
The five construction workers are suing Americo Lopes, who bought the $77 million Mega Millions winning ticket in 2009. The five say they are owed $4 million each.
The group says that for years, starting in 2007, they would pool their money in hopes of hitting it big, each contributing two bucks per drawing.
Lopes was always the one to buy the tickets.
And then, on Nov. 10, 2009, the group actually did win, they say. But Lopes didn’t tell anyone the good news for months. Instead, he came to work the next day and announced he needed to take time off for foot surgery.
Yet a few months later, in March, he told his boss he was quitting, saying he won the lottery with a ticket he purchased on his own independent of his construction co-workers.
The suit is being heard this week in Union County Superior Court in New Jersey.
