Lotto Prize : Doctor With 5 Cars Wins $15 Million

A Santa Clarita surgeon--who owns five cars and has residences in affluent Sand Canyon and Malibu--has claimed a $15.7-million Lotto jackpot he won a week ago.

Rumors of Dr. Jorge V. Ragde’s luck had been circulating through the medical community since Thursday, the day after the Nov. 9 drawing. But he waited until Monday to turn in his winning ticket to the Ventura lottery office, California State Lottery officials said Tuesday.

It took lottery security forces nearly 24 hours to complete the process that confirmed his claim was legitimate and to clear the way for Ragde to receive the first of 20 annual checks of $629,600.

Even after that confirmation, Ragde shunned publicity, failing to return telephone calls while only allowing public release of the minimum information required by law: his name, winning total and hometown.

‘It’s Pretty Exciting’

State medical licensing records reveal that Ragde is a 59-year-old doctor with a private practice in Mission Hills. He attended medical school in the Philippines and has been licensed to practice in California since 1961.

A spokeswoman at Holy Cross Medical Center said he has been a surgeon there for 24 years. He also has staff privileges at Granada Hills Community Hospital.

“Our famous lottery winner. It’s pretty exciting,” said Shelly Rondeau, Holy Cross’ media specialist. “He is a very well-thought-of surgeon here.”

At Indian Hills Medical Center, where Ragde has his private practice, a receptionist said the doctor would not return telephone calls from reporters.

The dreams that many lottery players hope to fulfill by hitting it big in the drawing already have been realized by Ragde and his wife, Lucille.

They recently moved from Sylmar to a house with a pool in the Sand Canyon area of Santa Clarita, according to Los Angeles County property tax rolls. They also own a condominium on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.

2nd Physician

Department of Motor Vehicles registration records show that among the five cars Ragde owns are a 1956 Ford, a 1985 Mercedes-Benz and a 1987 Mitsubishi.

He was the second jackpot-winning physician logged in state Lotto files, lottery spokesman Bob Taylor said.

The first was a San Diego doctor who belonged to a 41-person hospital pool that won $20.6 million at the end of October.

Although most winners consent to at least one news conference, Taylor said, sometimes the notion of becoming so rich, so fast makes people shy.

“It does change your life significantly in terms of people who are interested in you,” Taylor said. “People have a tendency to want to establish a certain degree of privacy at that point.”

Against odds of 14 million to 1, Ragde became the sole winner Nov. 9, when his “quick pick” ticket matched the numbers 9, 10, 17, 22, 40 and 44.

In a quick pick, a Lotto machine automatically chooses a random sequence of numbers.

Ticket Sales Go Up

Taylor said Ragde had purchased the winning ticket shortly before the 7 p.m. deadline the night of the Lotto 6/49 draw at the Granada Hills 7-Eleven store on Balboa Boulevard.

Store owner Sam Lo said he did not remember Ragde among the many lottery players he sees every day.

News of the win has been a boon for Lo’s lottery business, however. He said ticket sales at his store have risen by at least a third.

“We plan to put a big banner in front of the store: ‘Jackpot Sold From This Store,’ ” Lo said. “That’s all people want to know.”

Lo said his other 7-Eleven store, located in Van Nuys, had sold a second-tier, $648,000 Lotto ticket earlier this year.

As owner of the location where the winning ticket was sold, Lo will receive more than $78,000, the equivalent of 0.5% of Ragde’s winnings.