A Massachusetts man has gotten his hands on a $3m lottery win more than six months after buying the ticket. Paul Little purchased multiple tickets at a liquor store in Lakeville on January 17, but when he forgot to take them with him, two of the store workers decided to keep them.

After learning that one of the tickets was a seven-figure winner, co-workers Joseph Reddem and Carly Nunes went to the headquarters of the Massachusetts Lottery. Officials were getting ready to pay out the winnings when they overheard an argument between the pair. Nunes allegedly said that she would only give Reddem a $200,000 cut. This conversation led to doubts over the win and an investigation began.

Nunes tried to evade the authorities for a couple of weeks

State lottery officials and the police looked at CCTV from the store and they saw that it was actually Little who bought the ticket in question. Nunes tried to evade the authorities for a couple of weeks before they caught her.

Paul Little thanked the Massachusetts Lottery for “making sure the rightful people get the award” and he now plans to donate some money to charity and pay off his mortgage.