Star Lotto fails to pay winner, taken to court

A LEADING gambling venture Star Lotto, which is owned by the wife of deputy Finance minister Samuel Undenge, Letina, was on Thursday taken to the Bulawayo High Court after allegedly refusing to pay a Bulawayo punter a whopping jackpot prize of $306 000 that he won in August this year.

The gambling establishment reportedly withheld Kumburai Ruguva's jackpot prize on the pretext that he should first submit an investment plan for approval to ensure prudent investment of his rich pickings.

However, Ruguva approached the High Court on Thursday seeking an order forcing Star Lotto to immediately release his windfall arguing that an investment plan was not part of the terms and conditions of playing the lotto.

"I was the winner of the Star Lotto jackpot prize of $306 000 on August 14 2013 as is more fully shown by the indemnity agreement and the memorandum of agreement of non-disclosure.

"I have made several efforts through e-mails and phone calls to respondent about payment of my prize, but respondent has not paid me my prize. Respondent confirmed to me that a proper audit to rule out possibility of fraud was concluded and they are happy I am the rightful winner of the August 14 2013 Star Lotto jackpot of $306 000," Ruguva said in court papers filed by his lawyers T Hara and Partners Legal Practitioners.

Ruguva said Star Lotto has reneged on paying his prize and continuously shifts goalposts each time he engages the organisation.

"I am not borrowing money from the respondent (Star Lotto). I am only claiming my prize and I do not see where this investment plan fits in. Respondent must only pay me my prize as per the arrangement at the time I placed my bet," Ruguva said.

"It is clear that respondent is liable to me as prayed for and that there being no dispute of fact in the matter, this application is sustainable at law. Respondent's debt to me is recoverable as enshrined under Section 63 of the Lotteries and Gaming Act, Chapter 10,26," his court papers state.

Star Lotto was served with the application on Friday and is expected to respond within 10 days, failure of which the matter would be heard as an unopposed application.

Letina launched the gambling venture in November 2012 as an offshoot of her textile manufacturing company Panache Enterprises, which she established in Bulawayo in 2002 before relocating to Harare.

Letina was a high school mathematics teacher for seven years before she ventured into the textile business that now doubles up as her personal enterprise together with the gambling establishment Star Lotto.