Waikato Times
The rumour mill is running rife as to who could be New Zealand's newest millionaire as a $17 million Lotto prize remains unclaimed nearly one week on.
Speculation has centred on a Cambodian family who own a business just down from where the second winning ticket was sold.
The business, Royal Lunch Bar and Cafe, sits a few shops down from Take Note stationery store, in the Dinsdale shopping area.
However, when the Waikato Times called in to chat with staff this morning there was rigorous denial they were the winners.
''I've heard that too but it's not us. I've thrown my ticket in the bin,'' the man rumoured to have won said.
It's been six nights since it was announced that two tickets would share the $34 million Powerball prize.
The winner from Dannevirke has come forward, but as of this morning the owner of ticket bought at Dinsdale's Take Note stationery store has not.
NZ Lotteries spokeswoman Victoria Barton-Chapple said it was very unusual for a winner of a prize that big to take this long to claim it.
''It usually takes two to three days. But we do have the feeling that they do seem to know they've won though,'' she said.
''But they are probably playing it cool and waiting for the dust to settle before claiming it.''
The winner is losing around thousand of dollars in interest a day, but Barton-Chapple said you could probably afford that if you know you've got $17.7 million to fall back on.
In January a Te Kuiti ticket purchaser won Big Wednesday's $5.5 million package. It took them a month to claim their prize.
NZ Lotteries said winners had 12 months to claim their prize before it expired.
If it wasn't claimed, the money would go into the "prize reserve fund" which was used to fund promotional draws.
There was a process Lotteries could go through if the suspected winner had lost their ticket, as long as they could provide the date and time of the purchase.
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