Ontario, Canada

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Philip Tsotsos, a man from Canada, has filed a lawsuit against 16 former co-workers for not sharing the $1 million lottery money with him after being with them in the ticket pool for seven years. However, the 16 defendants in the case claimed they were not friends with Philip or even knew him at all. 

The syndicate won the Max Lotto ticket in 2021. According to Philip, each of his friends won $62,000 from the winnings, but he did not receive a single penny. Philip mentioned in the filed civil suit he was the 17th friend. If the winner list included Philip, they all would've received $58,000 each. 

Philip told The US Sun, "I cared for these guys like they were family." He pointed towards his heart and said, "These are my friends. It hurts here." However, Philip added, "More than that, it hurts my wallet."

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Philip aims to receive $70,000 plus interest through the lawsuit. He said, "I'm not backing off on this until I see it through."

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Meanwhile, the 16 defendants denied the allegations, claiming they were not friends with Philip. The defence document stated, "The defendants specifically deny any of them were ever 'close friends' or 'good friends' with the plaintiff. Some of the defendants were the plaintiff's co-workers. Others did not know him at all." Philip agreed that he did not know everyone in the syndicate as they belonged to a different workplace, but he was good friends with the others. He said, "So, for seven years, I was good. In two weeks, I became Jeffery Dahmer. I became some monster they couldn't trust."

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Philip Tsotsos works as a pizza delivery man in Windsor, Ontario. He says he has text messages to prove that he was a part of the lottery pool that won the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Association's Maxmillion prize last summer. He claimed he carried a $30 tab ahead of the winning drawing. He also has text messages proving the pool's organiser, Steven Todesci, asked Tsotsos to pay $30 with another $10 to stay in the pool.

David Robins, the lawyer representing a group of Tsotsos' friends, said the pizza delivery guy has no claim to winnings. He told CBC, "Mr Tsotsos did not pay to play, so we deny that he is entitled to any of the relief he seeks, and we'll be vigorously defending the claim."

(With inputs from agencies)

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