The 58 year-old winner’s mother and daughter say they’re entitled to part of his winnings and went as far as to stage a protest at the local city office.
When a Paju, Korea man, won big to the tune of around US$4 million in the national lottery, the divorcee construction worker may have thought his financial troubles were over.
But the man’s problems may be just beginning, as at least a few of his family members are demanding a cut of his winnings – even attempting to break into his home and going so far as to demonstrate outside of the local City Hall in an apparent bid to gain government intervention forcing the man to split the cash.
The unnamed lotto winner’s mother, upon learning of his newfound fortune, reportedly demanded that he buy her a new apartment and pay her an allowance, arguing that she’s entitled to a cut of his winnings because she “looked after [his] kids when they were young.” At least one of the man’s daughters also wanted her own portion of the cash, claiming she was owed for taking care of the man’s aging mother.
Things appear to have come to a head when the man moved to a different city without informing his family. The disgruntled mother and daughter, through rumor, found the lotto winner’s new address and convinced an apparently unscrupulous locksmith to drill through the door and gain them access to the man’s new home.
According to reports, the construction worker lodged a breaking and entering complaint with the local police, prompting the mother and daughter to stage a last resort demonstration outside of the city office, holding signs proclaiming that the man abandoned his duties to his family in light of his lottery win.
While this is far from the first time large sums of money have made people do crazy things, this incident does teach us one valuable lesson: If you win the lottery, never, ever tell anyone about it.
Source: Kininaru Sokuhou
Featured Image: Flickr/Hong Chang Bum
Images: Flickr/Jordi Sanchez Teruel, Flickr/John Seb Barber