A luxury home in Oakville worth $1.3 million and a $2 million mansion in Vaughan that backs onto a golf course. A Mercedes and two Lexuses in the driveway.

It was a $12.5 million ticket to ride — only police say the ticket belonged to someone else.

Ever since police revealed Wednesday that three family members stand accused of stealing the multi-million-dollar lottery ticket, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. and the OPP have been fielding calls from people who believe they could be the rightful winner.

By nightfall, the OLG had received 20 phone calls from people who think they may have purchased the winning ticket in 2003.

The OPP said five communication centres have been inundated with “dozens and dozens and dozens” of calls. Phone lines regularly used to report car accidents were so jammed the OPP is asking people to call the OLG instead, said duty officer J.D. Michaud. A line dedicated to the case may be set up in the next couple of days, he added.

“I could be rich (and not know it). I've been buying tickets here for 10 years,” said a regular lotto buyer in Burlington's Variety Plus store.

OPP investigators say the store's manager in 2003 and his father actively stole lottery tickets from customers. In this particular case they didn't tell the customer he or she had the Lotto Super 7 jackpot for Dec. 26, 2003.

Two months later, the manager's sister claimed the prize, police said. When questioned by the OLG, she allegedly said she had no connection to her family members. The prize was paid out in December of that year.

While the alleged fraud took place seven years ago, the case was cracked recently using a new computer tracking system. And now police and the OLG are trying to track down the cheated winner.

Lottery officials say they have some leads. They believe the winner lived or worked in the St. Catharines or Burlington area in 2003.

A ticket was purchased at That's Entertainment on Lake St. in St. Catharines and later turned in at Variety Plus on Dundas St. in Burlington where it won a free play.

That free play ticket was never received by the rightful owner. It later went on to win $12.5 million with the numbers 6, 8, 14, 25, 36, 41 and 42.

Lottery officials say the alleged fraud was committed before safeguards were introduced after a series of insider fraud cases threatened to destroy the OLG's credibility.

The case was one of five identified in 2007 by ombudsman Andre Marin who accused the OLG of turning a blind eye to suspicious insider wins.

At a news conference Wednesday, OLG chairman Paul Godfrey, who was brought in by the Liberal government a year ago to turn the corporation around, was forced repeatedly to defend the lottery system's integrity.

“Certainly, there were cases which probably should have been prevented years ago. But A, we didn't have the proper tools to do it and B, we didn't have the proper mechanisms in place,” he said, adding that he's putting his faith in a “powerful” computer tool called Data Analysis and Retrieval Technology (DART).

DART can analyze billions of transactions per second and can identify ticket purchase patterns and characteristics, lottery officials say. For example, an analysis of the mystery winner showed the customer had favourite locations for lottery purchases with a predominate location. The OLG also knows the customer played Super 7 regularly, as well as other lottery products from time to time.

Some characteristics are not being revealed publicly, so officials can discern the rightful winner through an intensive interview process.

At Queen's Park, Premier Dalton McGuinty came under fire after the charges were announced.

“Things have become so bad in Dalton McGuinty's Ontario that even their scandals are having sequels,” said Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak.

New Democrat justice critic Peter Kormos said it's going to be tough to find the legitimate winner of the allegedly purloined prize.

“They'll never see the money,” the MPP for Welland predicted.

Kenneth Chung, 28, Jun-Chul Chung, 60, and Kathleen Chung, 29, are charged with fraud and money laundering.

They appeared in a Milton bail court Wednesday afternoon, where they were released on a combined total of $700,000 bail — $500,000 for Kathleen and $100,000 each for her father and brother.

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The family showed no emotion during the proceedings and said little, except to acknowledge their bail conditions — namely that they must surrender their passports, reside with their sureties and not communicate at all with each other.

Greeted by a throng of news media cameras outside the courthouse, the Chungs left the building separately and were quickly driven away by their sureties in three minivans.

Back on Callaway Crt., the gated community in Vaughan where Kenneth Chung lives with his parents, neighbours were shocked.

“They're just kind, friendly people,” said next-door neighbour Natasha, who didn't want to give her last name.

Ironically, neighbours said, their house was at one time a prize for the Princess Margaret Hospital lottery.

With files from Brendan Kennedy, Rob Ferguson and Nicki Thomas

Ontario lottery scandals

2001 - After validating two tickets at his usual Coboconk variety store, Bob Edmonds, 78, is given a free ticket, while the store clerk and her husband redeem the $250,000 jackpot. Edmonds repeatedly complains to lottery officials but is ignored until provincial police begin investigating. The clerk and her spouse are arrested in 2002 for theft and fraud. Edmonds sues the pair as well as the lottery corporation and wins both cases. Edmonds dies of cancer in April 2007, shortly after receiving a personal apology from a top lottery official.

2003 - Raymond Sobeski from Princeton, Ontario wins $30 million in Super Lotto 7 and goes into hiding after several ex-wives tried to make claims on his money.

2005 - Orillia convenience store owner Hafiz Malik cashes a $5.75 million winning ticket for the 6/49 draw and is later charged with stealing the ticket. In June 2010, he is sentenced to a year in jail.

2007 - Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin releases a damning report saying the province's addiction to gambling revenues had left Ontarians vulnerable to being ripped off by crooked retailers who tell customers they haven't won and cash in the winning lottery ticket themselves.

2008 - In the wake of Marin's report, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp begins investigating any win over $10,000. As a result, Sharon Hunwicks of Toronto is charged with forgery after she tries to claim a fake "Cash for Life" lottery ticket worth $675,000.

2008 – The OLG pays out $80,000 plus interest to a Burlington woman allegedly victimized by a lottery retailer. Javed Nazami, 41, of Hamilton, is charged with fraud over $5,000, theft over $5,000 and possession of property obtained by the proceeds of crime.

2009 - David Stucky of Toronto is fined a record $2 million after selling bundles of Super7 lottery tickets to buyers who thought they had a good chance at winning tens of millions of dollars. In the scheme, Stucky mailed about 3.1 million ads to victims and generated $1 million in revenue for the "Canadian Lottery Buyers Association" between March 1999 and May 2000. Participants thought they would be sharing their winnings with a handful of people, but the contract never said how many. The average jackpot was 75 cents.

Compiled by Astrid Lange / Toronto Star library

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