New York Lottery Awards $12,000,000 in Cash Prizes to 7 from NYC and Long Island

SCHENECTADY, NY (05/05/2010)(readMedia)-- New York Lottery Personality Yolanda Vega today teamed up with Lottery jackpot announcer Ralph Buckley to award $12,000,000 in Lottery cash prizes to seven different Lottery jackpot winners representing Long Island, Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island

Former Massapequa Woman, Now Living in NYC, Wins $1,000,000 Scratch-Off Prize Two Years After Brother Wins $1,000,000 A Year For Life

October 28, 2008 is a day the Altunis family of Long Island, New York will remember forever. It was on that date that Cindy Altunis watched as her older brother, Kenan, received a New York Lottery prize check worth at least $20,000,000 as the first-ever winner on the Lottery's Win $1,000,000 a Year For Life instant ticket. Cindy Altunis, now 32, today relived that moment first-hand as she accepted her own over-sized Lottery prize check worth $1,000,000 from the popular $500,000,000 Extravaganza scratch off game.

Altunis, born in Turkey and raised on Long Island's South Shore, said the details surrounding her own win closely mirror those of her brother's. "Like my brother, I was visiting my mom when I bought the ticket," she said. "And, we stopped at the same store, the Norwich Service Station on Northern Boulevard in East Norwich, where my mom bought Kenan's winning ticket. My mom is the common denominator in all if this."

Altunis purchased her winning ticket on March 1, 2010, and scratched it later that day at her mother's house in Oyster Bay where the family moved in 2005. "We thought it can't be; no one could be this lucky," she said. "We are very thankful for being so fortunate." The sibling millionaire locked her ticket in a bank safety deposit box until she was ready to claim it on April 20, 2010 at the Lottery's Customer Service Center in Garden City.

Following in her brother's footsteps, Altunis said her plans for the money are modest. "Yes, I could go shopping for handbags and shoes and travel to foreign countries, and I probably will do some of that, but my only plan right now is to give back to my parents. If I wasn't visiting my parents that day in March, I would not have won. God has blessed me and my family in many ways."

Altunis will receive her $1,000,000 prize as $50,000 a year for 20 years. She will receive an annual net check totaling $33,015 a year through 2029. Altunis said her brother Kenan, a British citizen, is doing well and "enjoying life in London." Kenan Altunis claimed his Win $1,000,000 A Year For Life ticket on October 3, 2008. He is receiving his prize in annual payments totaling $931,500. He is guaranteed a minimum payout of $20,000,000, but, at 35-years-old, he could receive considerably more because as the name of the game implies, the Lottery will continue to pay him $1,000,000 a year for life.

Sound Beach Contractor Claims His Own $1,000,000 Prize on the $500,000,000 Extravaganza Game

Fifty-one-year-old Robert Johnson of Sound Beach, Suffolk County, claimed his $1,000,000 prize on the $500,000,000 Extravaganza ticket one day after Cindy Altunis claimed her prize on the same game. Johnson, a laborer for WHM Plumbing and Heating out of East Sautucket, said he almost passed up his chance to win $1,000,000 hoping for a bigger jackpot.

I went to the store to buy a Mega Millions ticket," he said. "I got to the counter and got my numbers for that and told the guy to give me a couple of the other kind, too. He gave me the winner."

Johnson said he was running late for work on the morning of April 20, 2010 and didn't have time to stop for his usual bagel and coffee breakfast. He opted instead for a cheese Danish from the 7-Eleven on Sunnyside Boulevard in Plainview where he also bought his winning ticket.

I got to work and started to scratch the tickets while I ate the Danish," he said. "I scratched the first and nothing. I scratched the second and saw a coin but no prize. Then I started scratching under the coin and saw all the zeroes and knew it was a $1,000,000 winner. I started calling everybody!"

Johnson finished his shift and called the Lottery from home to verify is good fortune. He claimed his prize the following day. As for his plans for the money, the father of one said he planned to save for his daughter's education and "take it a little easier from now on." Johnson will receive his prize as $50,000 as year (net $33,015) for 20 years.

Laid Off Accountant from Flushing, Queens and Nephew from Plainview, Nassau County, Split $5,000,000 Set For Life Prize

Born in Iran, Qais Mehrzad, has lived in New York for 26 years. The 40-year-old accountant was recently laid off from his full-time job, but, the new father said he made the most of his down time "learning some new skills as a new father." Mehrzad said he thoroughly enjoys his new job and looks forward to becoming a full-time stay-at-home dad thanks to the $5,000,000 prize he won on the Lottery's Set for Life ticket.

"It's ironic," he said. "The economy cost me a job, but my family and I are more secure now than ever before." Mehrzad opted to claim his $5,000,000 prize with his 20-year-old nephew, Michael Artan, a part-time certified nursing assistant at Winthrop University Hospital in Minneola. The two, according to Mehrzad, are like father and son.

'We are very close," said Mehrzad. "Michael and I put our money together to buy this ticket so it's only right that we both win." The two bought their winning ticket on April 17th at Jay Cards and Gifts on Old Bethpage Road in Old Bethpage.

Mehrzad and Artan, 20, claimed the ticket together on April 27th at the Lottery's offices in Garden City. The pair opted to split the prize with 75 percent of the $5,000,000 guaranteed minimum payment going to the younger Artan and the remaining 25 percent going to Mehrzad. As a result, Artan will receive 19 annual payments of $195,000 each (net $128,758) and a 20th payment of $45,000 (net $29,713) to realize his guaranteed minimum payout of $3,750,000. After the 20th payment, he will continue to receive an annual net check totaling $128,758 for life.

Likewise, Mehrzad will receive his 25 percent share of his prize as 19 annual payments of $65,000 ($40,548) with a 20th payment of $15,000 (net $9,357) to realize his guaranteed minimum payment of 1,250,000. After his 20th payment, he will continue to receive an annual net check totaling $40,548 for life. Artan said he plans to use his cash prize to return to school to further his nursing career. Mehrzad said he plans to pursue his passion as well; taking care of family.

Russian-Born Home Attendant from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn Fails Driving Test; Wins $3,000,000 on Money instant game

Talk about a consolation prize! Forty-eight-year-old Venera Nurutdinova of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn had just failed her driving test when she decided to lift her spirits by cashing in some old Lottery tickets. Lucky for her, the former Russian doctor now working as a home attendant, decided to spend $10 of her $25 in prize money on a Money instant ticket.

"I started scratching the ticket as I walked home," she said. "I saw the 'jackpot – 3 million' and stopped right there in the street. I didn't know what to do," said the mother of one. "I got home and showed my daughter and she got on the computer right away (to verify it was a $3,000,000 winner)."

Nurutdinova, who has lived in New York for the past 10 years, purchased her $3,000,000-winning Money ticket on April 14th at the First Stop Deli Supermarket on 86th St. in Brooklyn. She claimed it on April 15th at the Lottery's offices in New York City. She will receive her prize as $150,000 a year for 20 years. Her annual net check will total $93,573.

"I always had faith I would win something," she said. Nurutdinova, who immigrated to New York 10 years ago, plans to return to school to become a doctor in her adoptive new home, America.

Manhattan Janitor Collects $1,000,000 Instant Jackpot Prize

Oscar Benites of New York, NY buys New York Lottery tickets for one reason: "To get rich, of course." Benites realized his dream of getting rich on April 11th when he purchased a $1,000,000 Instant Jackpot scratch off game at the Vasu Convenience store on Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills.

"I go there once a week to buy a Lottery ticket," said the 62-year-old janitor. "I bought this one because it caught my eye." Benites scratched his ticket in the store and said he couldn't contain his excitement. "I started jumping up and down in the store. It was very exciting."

The top prize on the $1,000,000 Instant Jackpot ticket is paid as $50,000 a year over 20 years. The City resident will receive an annual net check totaling $31,191.

He plans to use a portion of his prize to visit family in other parts of the country, including his daughter in Wisconsin.

Winning $1,000,000 "Like Christmas" for New York Poker Winner from Arden Heights, Staten Island

"Just like Christmas morning." That's how Staten Island's newest Lottery millionaire, Joseph Curry, describes the feeling of winning $1,000,000 on a New York Lottery instant ticket. Curry, an electrician for Local Union No. 3, won the top prize on the New York Poker game.

"I actually traded in the $10 I won on a Mother's Day ticket and bought the New York Poker (ticket)," he said. "It was great. I didn't spend any of my own money and won $1,000,000!"

Curry scratched his ticket in the parking lot of the Guyon Minimart on Guyon Ave. in Staten Island. "I signed the ticket first thing and called my wife. I brought it to another store to make sure it was the real thing and they told me to call the Lottery. That's when I knew it was real."

Curry will receive his prize as $50,000 (net $31,091) through 2029. He plans to take his family to Disney World but, even more exciting than that he said, he plans "to install central air" in the family's home.

The New York Lottery continues to be North America's largest and most profitable Lottery, earning more than $36.7 billion in education support statewide since its founding over 40 years ago. The Lottery contributed nearly $2.54 billion in fiscal year 2008-09 to help support education in New York State, which was over 12 percent of total state education funding to local school districts.

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