Self-Proclaimed Lotto Winner Yet To Pay $7.5 Million He Promised To Junior Hockey Team

Last month, various Canadian news outlets featured a heartwarming story about a local man giving back to his community. A British Columbia man named Mike Gould had promised to donate $7.5 million to the Kimberly Dynamiters, a local junior hockey team. The donation was announced before a game on October 13, when Gould was honored during a pregame ceremony. Now, more than a month later, the team is wondering where the money is.

On Monday, the Dynamiters put this statement on their Facebook page:

The Kimberley Dynamiters would like to provide an update on the commitment from Mr. Gould. The commitment promised to the Kimberley Dynamiters and Kimberley Minor Hockey has not been received. The organization believes that the completion of the season is the main priority and efforts will be dedicated to that purpose. We thank all of the Dynamiter fans and the wider community for their interest and continued support. This will be the only statement the Dynamiter organization will be releasing. If there are any further developments, we will provide an update at that time.

Thank you,

Kimberley Dynamiters Board of Directors.

The CBC has been trying to figure out what went wrong, and was told by Dynamiters president James Leroux that Gould had shown him bank statements on his phone to prove his wealth. In interviews, Gould said he got rich by winning the lottery in 2008. But when the CBC got in touch with him to ask for more details, he became coy:

CBC News was unable to confirm the lottery win because Euromillions only discloses names when winners request it.

When asked by CBC News on Oct. 18 to provide information to support his claims of wealth, Gould refused.

“Everything is all confidential,” he said.

“Put it this way, I’m richer than Ritchie Rich, and I’m not as rich as Scrooge McDuck.”

The CBC also discovered that Gould was accused of buying $6,200 worth of tools with money from a drywall company he was working for in 2009—one year after he says he won the lottery—and then pawning the tools for profit. Gould denied this to the CBC and claimed the allegation was due to a case of mistaken identity.

[ CBC]