Steve Khambatta and Ginette Amédée are our latest millionaires |05 July 2021
The draw in progress (Phoot: Jude Morel)
5th Mini Maz Millions lottery
Steve Khambatta and Ginette Amédée are the country’s latest millionaires after winning the major prizes in the 5th Mini Maz Millions lottery which was drawn on Saturday at the Quadrant Building in Victoria.
Mr Khambatta, holding lucky ticket number 09159, won the star prize of R1.5 million while Ginette Amédee from Le Niole won R1 million as first prize with his lucky ticket number 21343.
We could not get hold of the star prize winner but we managed to get in touch with first prize winner Ginette Amédée who was pleasantly surprised upon getting the news.
“I was in the shower when I received a call from a friend. The amazing thing is that my friend’s daughter who is in Dubai called her to announce her about my win! I wanted to believe the news immediately but thought maybe it was not me. Then I received a call from the organiser, Marie-France MacGregor, who confirmed my win. I am very happy and I see it as a welcoming gift from God. God only knows who needs what. I do not have immediate plans for now,” shared Ms Amédée.
The winning ticket was bought by her daughter at Victoria House.
After an advert on social media, five blindfolded youths were chosen to pick their numbers from the barrel, during the draw on Saturday evening at the Maz Millions head office.
The second prize of R500,000 was won by Neron & Neddron Capricieuse from Les Mamelles with ticket number 29538 and the third prize of R250,000 went to Diana Belle of Belvedere with ticket number 07822.
In accordance with the law, the draw was held in the presence of officers from the Seychelles Licensing Authority (SLA) and the Seychelles Police Force.
In all there were twenty prizes in the lottery with other winners winning cash ranging from R150,000 to R1000.
With regard to health restrictions in relation to Covid-19, the Mini Maz lottery draw was closed to the public but was streamed live via the Maz Millions Facebook page, Paradise FM and on Pure FM.
Marie France MacGregor of Maz Millions said that the sale of the tickets went on well and the ceremony went on smoothly.
“We are satisfied with the sale of tickets and as from this Wednesday, tickets for the 6th Mini-Maz Millions lottery will be on sale. The draw will be on Monday October 4. The next big Maz Millions lottery will be held in December and the ticket will cost R500 instead of R1000. This time three people will have the opportunity to become millionaire and the star prize will be announced later,” announced Mrs MacGregor.
The organisers of Maz Millions lottery are aware of the economic difficulty the economy is going through and have lowered the price of the ticket to make it more affordable.
Regarding the removal of numbers, Ms MacGregor noted that this year, they sold tickets up to number 32141. “Please note that we are not putting back 3 sequence. We sold up to 32000 and not 33 sequence. So of course we have to start over if we draw number 3 in the first and 2nd box. We do manual draw to leave it purely up to LUCK. There is no room for error and no way to cheat. You see the live draw as it is! No electronic, no programming. It’s purely luck.”
Mrs MacGregor thanked everybody who bought a ticket, making the lottery once again a success.
The list of all the winners is published in the press and via Maz Millions facebook page.