The Ontario Provincial Police and Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. have their hands full as they try to identify the true winner of a stolen $12.5-million Lotto Super 7 prize.

"We've had over 400 people call us and tell us they have a claim to the $12.5 million," said the OLG's Tony Bitoni on Wednesday.

At least 100 of those people have been ruled out so far by the OPP.

When they do find the winner, the payout will be more than $14 million when one adds on the interest, lottery officials say.

Police believe the real winner is a frequent player who purchased the ticket at a favourite store in St. Catharines in 2003, then had it checked at a Burlington store.

Back at that time, there was no scanner allowing players to have their tickets checked automatically. They had to trust the clerk.

Police have alleged the store's operators lied to the customer and passed the winning ticket to a female relative to cash in.

In an unusual move, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. (OLG) never held a news conference to announce the winner.

Three weeks ago, the OPP announced it had laid charges against Jun-Chul Chung, 60, of Thornhill; Kenneth Chung, 28, also of Thornhill; and Kathleen Chung, 29, of Oakville:

  • fraud over $5,000
  • possession under $5,000
  • possession over $5,000 (proceeds of crime)
  • money laundering

Jun-Chul and Kenneth Chung are also charged with three counts each of theft under $5,000 and two counts each of possession under $5,000.

The OPP said it has seized $10 million in assets from the three, who are scheduled to appear in a Milton, Ont. courtroom on Oct. 27.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Galit Solomon