UPDATE:
The family of the 62-year-old woman said the nurse’s son played a prank on his mother.
California Lottery officials said they were skeptical after a spokesperson for nursing home owner Shlomo Rechnitz said the winner was a senior registered nurse at Park Avenue Health Care and Wellness Center in Pomona.
Rechnitz’s spokesperson said the nurse was given a ticket by her boss, who bought 18,000 tickets for his employees and residents at 80 nursing home across California.
Rechnitz described the prank as “despicable” and told ABC News he wants the nurse to have some fun with the situation. He said he will buy an all-expenses paid vacation for the nurse and her family to anywhere they choose.
Lottery officials stated that no one has come forward to claim the prize.
The winning ticket was purchased at a 7-Eleven located at 4092 Chino Hills Parkway in Chino Hills. Revelers swarmed the store in celebration Wednesday evening.
Jewish Journal: Shlomo Rechnitz improved the odds, but not my much.
On Tuesday, he purchased nearly 18,000 Powerball tickets for every employee and resident of his California nursing home empire, jumping the odds from one in 292 million to 18,000 in 292 million (about six thousandths of one percent)
That marginal statistical improvement, though, may have paid off big time for a senior registered nurse at the Rechnitz-owned Park Avenue Healthcare & Wellness Center in Pomona.
The apparent winner, who has not yet been publically identified, is one of three winners of the record $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot, according to Rechnitz spokesman Joshua Nass. The manager of the nursing facility was not immediately available for comment. Rechnitz has not yet responded to a phone call or text message from the Journal. The California Lottery, meanwhile, hasn’t yet confirmed that the nurse’s ticket is the winning ticket.
ABC 7 reported that the nursing homes director confirmed that his employee is the Powerball winner, but does not know whether her winning ticket is the one bought by Rechnitz, or perhaps bought on her own.
“Our understanding is what I’ve conveyed to you,” Nass said, when asked whether he knows for sure that the nurse’s winning ticket was one purchased by Rechnitz.
Earlier this week, Nass said, Rechnitz bought just under 18,000 Powerball tickets (at $2 each), giving one to each of his employees and residents. He said that the winner was at the facility on Wednesday evening when her son texted her a picture of the winning ticket, which was purchased at a 7-Eleven in nearby Chino Hills. Nass then said that the nurse and her fellow employees broke out into joyful dancing.
“There were two nurses at the facility who witnessed her reaction,” Nass said. “Her kids proceeded to come by and pick her up to take her home.”
