A lottery winner waited six years to claim his $5million ticket to ensure his fiancee married him for love and not his money.
Andy Ashkar, 34, of Camillus, New York came forward on March 1, just 11 days before the top prize in the '$500,000,000 Extravaganza' scratch-off game would have expired, New York Lottery said.
Mr Ashkar said he bought the ticket at his parents' convenience store in Syracuse in 2006 and has decided to share the winnings with his brother Nayel.
The agency said the younger brother said he waited so long to claim his prize because he was concerned the windfall could 'negatively influence' his life if he didn't plan properly before being publicly introduced as the winner.
Andy Ashkar also told lottery officials that he also didn't want the windfall to influence his engagement and subsequent marriage.
Calls to phone numbers listed for the Ashkar brothers went unanswered Wednesday morning.
The brothers' mother, Wasa Ashkar, said her husband, Neyef, sold the winning ticket to Andy at the couple's Green Ale Market, but she couldn't remember exactly when.
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