An Auckland man, who had no idea he'd won Lotto, had the winning ticket in his work bag for more than two and a half weeks.
Powerball was struck on Wednesday, February 18's draw, with the winning ticket bought from a dairy in Glen Innis.
The winner, who was unaware he'd become a millionaire, said he had no clue the prize had been won and was still unclaimed.
It wasn't until he stopped by the dairy that he bought the ticket two-and-a-half weeks later that he finally checked.
“I didn’t know anyone from Auckland had won – never mind that it hadn’t been claimed. It was in my bag the whole time, coming with me to and from work and wherever else I’ve been,” he said.
The man said he only bought a ticket occasionally, and usually checked them when he went to the shops, which explained the long wait.
He said he didn't know what to think about discovering he'd won.
“The Lotto operator said, ‘Ahh, we’ve been waiting for you – come with me’, and took me out the back. That’s where they told me I’d won $4.5 million.
“I think I was in shock – I just couldn’t believe it,” he said.
When his family got home later that evening, he got them together to share the news.
One of his family members initially thought it was a ruse.
“He said, ‘Hey, can you come here? I’ve got something I need to tell you',” they said.
“When he told us, I just waited… expecting him to turn around laughing and say ‘jokes!’ but he didn’t – he was very serious!”
The man said he was enjoying the freedom that the money provided, and was planning to "take things slow".
“There will be a lot of decisions to make, so I know I need to take time to really think things through.
“The main thing I want to do is buy a home for my family – that’s always been a dream of mine – and later we’d love to go on a big family trip together.”
The prize was made up of $4 million from Powerball and $500,000 from Lotto First Division.
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