Lottery Boss Takes Hand in Late-Ticket Dispute

The director of the state lottery has personally stepped in to determine whether a Mission Viejo man and his nephew can take home $139,595 after returning a winning Lotto ticket a day late to the state agency.

Lottery Director Chon Gutierrez said he reviewed a claim by Mission Viejo resident Paul Manarang for more than six hours and decided that the state lottery board should take a second look at the case. Gutierrez said he has asked the board’s counsel and other state agencies to determine whether he can settle the ticket dispute.

“Winning doesn’t happen every day and it should be a happy day,” Gutierrez said. “This has been terribly unfortunate. I’m hopeful we can find a way to resolve this.”

The dispute began last June when Manarang and his nephew, Jason Shauf of Los Angeles, misplaced a $3 Quick Pick ticket that won a jackpot of $139,595. The ticket had five of the six winning numbers.

When they found the ticket in Shauf’s car several months later, it was just two days before the 180-day claim deadline. But when Shauf turned in the ticket on Dec. 21, lottery officials told him that it was a day too late. The ticket was the largest lottery prize ever denied in California because of a missed deadline, according to lottery officials.

Attorney Rick L. Eby, a Laguna Niguel attorney who was hired by Shauf, welcomed the news that Gutierrez was making an effort to resolve the dispute.

“This is a feather in the cap for the lottery officials to move so quickly in trying to settle this,” Eby said. “If the outcome is favorable, I would feel as though the scales of justice have been balanced.”

According to Lotto rules, the lottery director is allowed to review claims and make a finding if there is a dispute. But first, other state agencies must agree that the dispute needs to be reviewed, Gutierrez said.

Meanwhile, lottery officials are conducting a routine review to make sure that Manarang and Shauf are the rightful owners of the winning ticket. Shauf said he and his uncle have been interviewed by lottery investigators.

Despite the unprecedented action, Shauf, an avid Lotto player, says he won’t let his hopes get too high. But if Gutierrez rules in his favor, Shauf said, he wants to use his half of the winnings for a down payment on a house, while his uncle plans to use the money to help relatives in the Philippines.

“I can’t afford to be too happy,” said Shauf, a physical therapist. “I’m just going to wait and see whether it turns out to be good news.”