Man Waits Weeks to Claim $23.9-Million Lottery Prize

Nearly three weeks after becoming the eighth-luckiest individual winner in the history of the California Lottery, a Reseda caterer claimed his $23.9-million prize Friday.

M. Subhan, 42, said he bought 51 tickets Oct. 7 from a Woodland Hills 7-Eleven store because he felt lucky.

“I have no idea why I was selected for this,” Subhan said during an interview in his home in a quiet Reseda neighborhood. “Maybe it was God.”

Subhan, who immigrated to the United States from Asia 16 years ago, refused to provide details about himself or his family.

“I just don’t want to put my family in any kind of risk,” he said. “I just want to live the way I have been living.”

He waited nearly three weeks to claim the prize money, he said, because he “had to put personal affairs in order.”

Bob Taylor, spokesman for the California Lottery, said it is not uncommon for people to wait a while to claim their prize.

“They need to take care of personal business before they come in sometimes,” Taylor said. “Not everybody rushes in in the first 24 to 48 hours.”

Subhan’s $23.9-million jackpot will be paid over 20 years in annual installments of $1,195,000, or $860,400 a year after 28% is withheld for federal taxes.

He said he would use some of the money to pay for his children’s college educations, but did not have specific plans for the rest.

“Maybe, I’ll use the money for helping people,” he said.

Subhan’s prize ranks eighth among Super Lotto’s 650 top prizewinners since the game began in 1986. The largest prize, $45 million, went to a man in Upland in December, 1990. This year’s largest jackpot, $62 million, was split among 10 people holding three tickets.

Subhan’s ticket, with the numbers 27, 33, 34, 37, 39 and 10, was drawn Oct. 9.

There were 185 tickets that matched five of the six numbers, each worth $2,050.