A man from Washington DC has filed a lawsuit against Powerball and the DC Lottery after they claimed to have published his winning lottery numbers by mistake.

According to a news report from the British Broadcasting Company (BBC), John Cheeks hit the US $340m jackpot in January 2023 but when he presented his ticket to the Office of Lottery and Gaming (OLG), his claim was reportedly denied.

“One of the claims agents told me my ticket was no good, just to throw it in the trash can,” he told the BBC.

BBC says Cheeks is now suing the lottery for damages, in the amount of the Powerball jackpot, plus the interest he would have earned on it per day – totalling $340m.

The news report says court documents indicate that Powerball and a lottery contractor, the DC-based Taoti Enterprises, claimed the confusion arose from a technical error. It said that on 6 January 2023 – the day Cheeks bought his ticket – a quality assurance team was running tests on the website and that Cheeks’ winning numbers were posted on the website “accidentally.”

BBC says Neither Powerball nor Taoti responded to their request for comment.