Man's maid finds winning lottery ticket while cleaning, making him a millionaire

25 October 2023 , 12:13

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Khalil Soussa's housekeeper found the winning ticket in a vase (Image: Newsflash)

A lucky winner has become a millionaire after his housekeeper found a winning lottery scratch-off while cleaning his home.

Khalil Soussa from the city of Medford, Massachusetts said he had forgotten about the 'USD 15,000,000 Money Maker' ticket when the house cleaner handed it over to him after she found it in a vase.

But he was stunned when he double-checked the USD 30 (GBP 24) scratcher and discovered that he had won an astonishing USD 1 million (GBP 822,240) prize. The lucky player said he had bought the ticket a few months ago at the local Tony's Convenience, located at 416 Salem Street. Upon collecting the prize at lottery headquarters, Soussa was given the option to choose between receiving the full prize in annual installments, or a one-time payment.

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Khalil had bought the ticket a few months ago at the local Tony's Convenience (Newsflash)

He chose the lump sum and took home USD 650,000 (GBP 534,274) before state and federal taxes on Thursday, 12th October. Soussa said he plans to use some of the winnings to help a friend and to donate to charity.

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Massachusetts Lottery officials said in a statement: "The store will receive a USD 10,000 [GBP 8,222] bonus for its sale of this ticket." Typically, the store that sells a winning ticket to a customer receives a hefty bonus.

In 2022, Publix sold more than 25 winning lottery tickets (AP)

Interestingly, one store chain in Florida has had an unusual winning streak. Supermarket chain Publix has been rather quiet about the amount of lotto winners that have walked out of its stores. Thanks to the store's policy, officials aren't allowed to speak about them publicly. A notice on the company's site reads: "Publix does not participate in or promote lottery stories. Rather, we offer the lottery as a service to our customers."

While few people believe the supermarket chain is involved in some type of scheme, one can't help but wonder why the company chooses to be so conservative. There aren't even any signs that advertise the sheer amount of winning tickets that have been bought in the store.

According to , there were more than 25 winning lottery tickets sold out of Publix supermarkets in 2022. What's even more bizarre is that some days had two lottery winners in different parts of Florida. For example, on April 28, 2022, Mengyue Xue of Gainesville, Florida won one million USD (£822,240) at a local Publix store. Meanwhile, Abdallah Adlouni acquired the same amount from Publix in Tampa.

The instances are uncanny. The same thing happened on June 2, 2022. Two winners, who each bought their lotto tickets at a Publix, emerged proudly showing their winning tickets. Like most winners, they opted for the one-time lump sum of cash, which amounts to about $820,000 (£676,012)

Mataeo Smith