New Zealand’s newest Lotto multi-millionaire may not be a Wairarapa local after all.
Although it was initially reported that the lucky punter who scooped the biggest jackpot so far this year on Saturday night was from Carterton, a Lotto spokesperson has now told the Times-Age this is probably not the case.
The winner of the $30 million-plus prize bought their ticket online via MyLotto.co.nz, and a statement from Lotto said they are based in Carterton.
“A lucky Powerball player from Carterton will be celebrating a life-changing win after winning $30.16 million with Powerball First Division in tonight’s live Lotto draw. The winning ticket was sold on MyLotto to a player from Carterton,” a spokesperson said at the time.
However, it now appears this was a case of mistaken location.
“Now that we have spoken with our winner, we know they are from Wellington, not Carterton as we initially thought,” a Lotto spokesperson told the Times-Age.
The original reports of a local win prompted feverish speculation across Wairarapa about who might have the golden ticket, with Carterton mayor Ron Mark weighing in on the news.
“The comments I’m getting on my text messages and what I have seen on social media is pretty much people are happy for them, and congratulating them,” Mark reportedly said.
“I even had one friend of mine say, ‘They will able to afford to pay your rates’,”
he joked.
The Lotto spokesperson said there are likely to be more details to share about the winner in the next few days, but was unsure what the explanation for the location mix-up is.
“When a person signs up for a MyLotto account, they have to pick their region, and then their city/town, so they may have accidentally chosen Carterton as their city/town,” they speculated.
The weekend’s big prize is made up of $30 million from Powerball’s first division and $166,667 from Lotto first division.
