Couple learns someone in NC town won big Powerball prize — but didn’t know it was them
A lucky North Carolina lottery player won a $2 million Powerball prize but didn’t claim their reward.
That is until Nhat Ho and his wife, Ngoc Truong, heard that the winning ticket was bought in Wake Forest, officials with the N.C. Education Lottery said in an Aug. 16 news release.
The couple had purchased a $3 Quick Pick ticket from Wegmans in Wake Forest, so Ho checked their numbers, he told officials. He didn’t believe what he saw.
“We didn’t think we actually won at first,” Ho told officials.
The couple’s ticket matched all five white balls, winning them $1 million, officials said. Then the 2X multiplier hit, raising their prize to $2 million.
“I told my wife’s parents we won, and they were like, ‘Are you sure?’” Ho told lottery officials.
After taxes, Ho and Truong took home $1,425,001, according to officials.
“We just moved here two months ago,” Ho said in the release. “And now we can pay off our mortgage.”
Wake Forest is about 20 miles northeast of Raleigh.
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