A man who launched a legal battle that exposed the problems within Ontario's lottery agency died Monday at 83 — only three days after getting a letter of apology from the corporation.
Bob Edmonds, who lived about 100 kilometres northeast of Toronto in Coboconk, succumbed to cancer in hospital after a long battle with the disease — before getting his hands on the letter delivered Friday by the government-owned Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.
Bob Edmonds, who fought the Ontario lottery agency, died of cancer on Monday.
(CBC)
"Although he knew about the letter before he passed away, he never got to read it," Edmonds's lawyer, Alan Rachlin, told CBC News.
Edmonds sued the lottery corporation in 2002, alleging he was duped out of a $250,000 cash prize.
He claimed a convenience store clerk in Coboconk kept a winning lottery ticket that he bought in 2001 and cashed it in herself. The lottery corporation settled with Edmonds in 2005, paying him $200,000.
On Friday, Edmonds was awarded his legal fees, bringing his total to $250,000.
Edmonds's story was featured in the fall of 2006 on the CBC's The Fifth Estate, in an investigative report that suggested a disproportionate number of lottery retailers had won large prizes in the previous seven years.
The Fifth Estate's report sparked a public uproar surrounding the lottery corporation.
More alleged cases of fraud came to light in the media, with store clerks accused of fraudulently claiming millions of dollars in prizes.
Ontario's ombudsman, André Marin, was called in to investigate. He declared last week that the lottery corporation is fixated on profits and needs an independent regulator.
He said the corporation was "too cozy" with its retailers and paid out $100 million to "lottery insiders" from 1999 to 2006.
Marin passed his files on to the Ontario Provincial Police for further investigation.
Only three days before Marin made his report public, the CEO of the lottery corporation, Duncan Brown, was abruptly dismissed from his job.
Edmonds is survived by his wife, daughter and two sons. Rachlin described his death as a loss and said he was honoured to know his client.
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