Cliff Notes: LI couple wins 162 million dollars. They owe Suffolk County nearly a million dollars. Suffolk would now like to collect. They are screaming that Suffolk is terrible, raining on their parade. These poor lottery winners...how will they get by after paying the greedy taxpayers out of their hard earned winnings?? ------------------------------------------------------------- Victor Alcorn A LOTTO NERVE: William and Mary Morrison, $162 million winners, fume yesterday over getting dunned in a 900G charity "rip-off." Sawicki said an audit proved the two "ripped off the taxpayers" for more than $612,000 in 2000 at their nonprofit homeless shelters by handing out improper bonuses to themselves and others. With penalties and interest, their bill now exceeds $900,000. Sawicki said the Morrisons also bought big-screen TVs with public money, paid rent to themselves while simultaneously charging the county, and billed taxpayers for employee retirement benefits but pocketed the money. The county won a judgment against the couple -- who have been claiming to be on the verge of bankruptcy -- a year ago, but they managed to avoid paying. "It's a lie! It's a lie!" Richard Morrison, 59, yelled outside his Miller Place home. "They stole from us," he shouted, referring to the county's shutdown of their nine shelters. "We're good people and we did no wrong," said his wife, 57. "We are for the people." After hiding their identity for two weeks, the couple went public yesterday and are scheduled to receive their winnings today in Garden City. Their lawyer, Michael Solomon, was furious. "Shame on the county," he said. "My clients stand for the rights of 'We, the People.' The nerve of this county to call today and rain on their parade." Sawicki said his audit, his subsequent court win and the couple's failed appeals proved "that they were defrauding the county." Sawicki had referred the case to law enforcement, but sources said the district attorney lacked evidence for a criminal case. The Morrisons, who have several children, ran Love'M Sheltering Inc. Their lawyer said they have been close to bankruptcy in recent years. Solomon insisted his clients are not responsible for the money and only the corporation that ran the now-closed shelters can be held accountable. Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/s...#ixzz0bwIy0FRl
Did the charity shenanigans happen before or after they won the $162mm? Either way, writing a big check is better than jail...
Within ten years they will be penniless is my guess. Now the question is which would be more painful when you have nothing, having it all and losing it or never knowing a level of wealth where you could have truly been free. If you believe in an afterlife or reincarnation, they also might be in for a nasty surprise soon after they take their last breath.
well, they were on the verge of bankruptcy before. returning to it is not leaving them any worse off. and in between, if they blow through that fortune, even it is "just" 80 mill after taxes, they will have had a fantastic run and stories that most people won't have. now, will it be painful to come down from that height? i would think so, but then they are already used to rock bottom, so it might not be for them. and it's not a given that they will end up bankrupt...they seem to know a thing or two about squirelling money away. usually it's people who have won up to 20 million who end up blowing it all. i haven't heard of folks burning through 50 million plus...they usually wise up by the time it dwindles to 20 million. if there was not enough evidence to prosecute, and if they ran 9 homes, and if they are so vehemently angry in such a public way, maybe the gov't did overreach? i don't know. but i am not going to condemn them for a tv or two when they ran 9 shelters. and neither will the public prosecutor. now that they have 162 mill, they can surely afford to push back and maybe rebuild their reputation. i am not supporting them either. but i don't think they have bad karma. at least, if they do, it hasn't manifested itself yet.
Since you obviously do, please enlighten us. The stories I have read all refer to people who won less than $20 million, as I wrote earlier. One person who won over $30 million committed suicide, but being suicidal and being broke are two different things. One person who won over $315 million has had a lot of tragedy and a few run-ins with the law, and is refusing to pay bills owed to a casino ($1.5 million), but that is hardly proof that he is broke. He still lives lavishly--indicating that he is lying about his financial problems. Another article I read in googling this phenomenon indicated that 1 in 3 lottery winners go broke. That means there is a 66% likelihood that you won't go broke if you won the lotto. So, go ahead, enlighten me. What don't I know, or what did I write that was so "obvioiusly" incorrect to you?
Sure...here are two well known cases! http://www.karemar.com/blog/lottery-winner-loses-114-million-four-years-plus-look-biggest-winners-all-time http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=04f_1187359514 Here's a blog of sorts... http://lottoreport.com/sadbuttrue.htm
Perfect for them if it's true or not. all the more reason to say screw it and be a recluse. If they in fact ran the homes to rip off money they won't have to say how they will use the lotto money to reopen the homes. So if they were selfish now they can be selfish and blame it on the story.
There was a story in the papers recently about a Florida man who won $30M, took a $16+M lump sum payment who is now missing and presumed dead.
As I understand it, they were found guilty of fraud; the county declined to go after them because they claimed they could not pay. In effect gave them a break. Now that they have mega millions, the county would like what is rightly theirs. The winners response is "no no, mine, mine all mine." Someone correct me if I am wrong.
This guy I know won 7m. He use to clean apartments for a friend of mine, who is also a landlord. After winning he bought a used Lincoln and continued to clean apartments and live in a rooming house above a bar. He was a big time drunk. After a few years he died. His daughter, who BTW is gorgeous, got all the money, after a few lawyers got some of it because a few people were fighting over it. Her father had spent less than 50k of the money. His daughter blew through the money in less than a year.
First of all, in the first case, it is the winner claiming that he is broke. Hardly proof. He is the one I was referring to when I said he is still living a lavish lifestyle--so he still has plenty. He is unhappy, yes, but that is different from being actually broke. The next two you cited got less than $20 million cash payouts. As I wrote earlier, if people do go broke, it is usually the ones who win less than $20 million. So, that's just two cases. There might be more. But as a percentage, the only figure I have read indicates that a third (33%) go broke. That means the majority (66%) do manage to hang on to their winnings. So again, what did I write that was wrong?
Wowza, I remember seeing a show about David. His tacky purchases and knife collection. I thought he was heading for a fall, didn't think it would be that low!
Is that the same guy who was on that lotto winners show? If so I thought on the show he said he was making 25k a day in interest?
I'd say that's a pretty succinct and accurate synopsis. Jeez! How the hell do you blow through that kind of money in less than a year? If I had a few million to hand (let's say about $3m-4m), I'd probably: Buy a Ferrari 348 - pronto! Stop renting and buy my own house (3 or 4 bedrooms, I'd like space for guests), make sure it has garage space for 3 or 4 cars (I plan on having more than one). Buy a comfortable reclining leather sofa. Go out to dinner more often. Get the occasional bottle of nice wine in for an evening, and have a diverse selection of whiskey to hand. Pick some low-risk, long-term investments that pay dividends - invest the bulk here. Pick a few investments with higher returns and invest cautiously. All else carries on as normal (i.e. career and life). I just don't get why lottery winners tend to win millions but then live to a standard as if they've got billions... and they always seem surprised when they run out of money. It barely takes any intelligence to live within your means - if your means are modest, then you live modestly. If your means allow for comfort, then enjoy as much as your means allow - but no more. I just don't understand how they can piss it all away. Even a 'small' lottery win should be enough to guarantee a half-sensible person a pretty good standard of living for life as long as they attempt to manage their resources and exercise even the smallest fraction of self-restraint. All the best, Andrew.
A special aired on some channel on this very topic a few years ago. If I get time I'll try and dig it up. The vast majority lost it all and then some or most of it. What would I do with a 160 million lotto jackpot? Well thats easy, midget butlers and cocaine.
The vast majority of the people featured in the show. Not the vast majority of winners. Big difference. You really shouldn't believe everything you see on TV, or you will end up believing things like sharks pose a big danger to man. ;-)
They do, they do pose a big danger to man! Actually, sharks terrify me. Logically, I know they're not really a huge threat, but the idea of a shark attack terrifies me more than I can succinctly communicate. All the best, Andrew.
