Queens,NY., Brooklyn Lotto winners share $8 million Lotto Jackpot

02/18/08 Queens,NY., Brooklyn Lotto winners share $8 million Lotto Jackpot

SCHENECTADY, NY Valentine’s Day is for lovers Lotto lovers in particular. Just ask Pablo Mogollon of Forest Hills, Queens and Oleg Soloviev of the Bath Beach/Graves End section of Brooklyn. The two strangers-turned-Lottery-Millionaires met for the first time today at the Tavern on the Green as Lottery officials presented each with his respective share of an $8,000,000 Lotto jackpot from the drawing held on January 30, 2008.
I love Lotto, said the 54-year-old Mogollon who works as a registered nurse at Bellevue Hospital in midtown. I started playing back in nursing school for the fun of it and have been playing the same lucky numbers ever since.
Mogollon spent a total of $5 on the January 30th Lotto drawing, choosing a mix of randomly generated Quick Pick numbers and his own set of lucky numbers that he also selected at random.

There is no special meaning to the numbers I chose, he said. They’re just my numbers – or so I thought, he added referring to his fellow jackpot winner.
Mogollon will have plenty of time to think of ways to spend his new found wealth during a month-long, pre-scheduled vacation to Peru where he plans to reunite with family and friends. Upon his return to New York, the bachelor millionaire said he plans to look for a new home and, in keeping with the spirit of the day, hinted that he may be ready to settle down.
It’s not out of the question, he said.

Mogollon purchased his winning Lotto ticket on January 27, 2008 at BHP News on 82nd Street in Jackson Heights. He claimed it on February 5, 2008. Mogollon opted to receive his prize as a lump sum. The lump sum payment totals $2,196,506, less required tax withholdings.
Mollogon’s co-jackpot winner, Oleg Soloviev of Brooklyn purchased his lucky Lotto ticket on January 29, 2008 at the CJ Express Deli & Grocery on Cropsey Ave. in Brooklyn. Like Mollogon, Soloviev opted for a mix of Quick Pick numbers and lucky numbers and, like his millionaire counterpart; Soloviev admits that he picked his lucky numbers out of thin air.
The Belarus-born electrical contractor said he owes his good fortune to his constant companion, a Miniature Schnauzer named Bugsy.

I was walking with Bugsy and decided to stop in to get a ticket, he said. I owe it all to him.
Soloviev said his plans for the money include making some much needed repairs to his home and investing wisely for his daughters.
I’m looking ahead to college and weddings for both of my daughters, he said. When asked about plans for a wedding of his own in the near future Soloviev would not commit to an answer.
I just want to see the money, he said. That’s what interests me right now.
Soloviev opted to receive his prize as a lump sum and will receive a one-time payment of $2,196,506, less required tax withholdings.

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