Lottery Losers

Winning the lottery is a life-changing event but, while most people would imagine it to be a dream-come-true, for some, winning the jackpot turns decidedly sour.

From bad investments to rank squandering of huge sums of lottery money, there are plenty of tales of woe among the stories of lotto winners from around the world with some even saying that they wished they’d never won in the first place.

Here are 10 of the biggest ‘lotto losers’ from various parts of the globe.

1. Construction boss Andrew Jackson Whittaker won a jaw-dropping $314.9 million (£221.4m) on the Powerball multi-state lottery and chose the lump sum payout of $113 million (£79.5m). But good luck didn’t follow and the Virginia native overspent and wasted the cash on bad investments. He was even robbed. By 2007, all the money had gone and Whittaker was back to square one.
2. South Korean-born Janite Lee went from rags to riches in 1993, winning $18 million (£12.5m) on the Missouri Lottery. Overly generous, her American dream soon turned into a nightmare. She donated millions to charity, funded the Democrat Party and ran up credit bills. By 2001, the philanthropist was bankrupt, owing her debtors a staggering $2.5 million (£1.7m).
3. UK resident Keith Gough picked up £9 million ($17.3m) in prize money when his numbers came up on the UK National Lottery in 2005. Keith spent heavy on life’s luxuries, spoiling family and friends, but his love for the high life soon spiralled out of control. His wife divorced him and Keith descended into alcoholism. Broke and in serious debt, he died of a heart attack in March 2010.
4. Its’s often the dream for boys growing up to buy their own football club and that dream came true for football fan John McGuinness when his numbers came up in 1997 when he won  £10 million ($16.3m) on the UK National Lottery. He left his £150-a-week ($244 per week) hospital porter job and spent like there was no tomorrow, buying his beloved soccer club Livingston in the process for £3 million ($4.9m). But McGuinness, not realising he would be responsible for the club's debts, found his remaining winnings were swallowed up. By 2009, McGuinness barely had enough cash left for groceries.
5. In December 2005, Spanish bricklayer Francisco Guerrero struck it lucky when he won €6.47 million ($8.6m/£4.5m) in the Spanish Bonoloto. Yet, under the guidance of a Santander bank employee, he made a number of bad investments and ended up not only losing the money, but losing all of his properties as well.
6. Evelyn Basehore had double the luck when when she won the lottery not once, but twice in the mid-1980s, netting her a total of $5.4 million (£3.6m) in the space of four months. The New Jersey resident hoped her good luck would follow her to the casinos when she gambled her money away, but there was not to be a ‘third time lucky’ and her habit left her broke and living in a trailer park, working two jobs to get by.
7. Canadian Ibi Roncaioli and her doctor husband Joseph already had a comfortable life when  Ibi won CA$5 million ($4.3m/£2.3m) on the Canadian Lotto 6/49 in 1991. But underneath the otherwise perfect façade all was not well in the relationship. Ibi had two 'secret' sons from previous relationships and gave them the bulk of the winnings. When Joseph found out in July 2003, he killed his wife by injecting her with a cocktail of lethal drugs. The former gynaecologist served seven years in prison for the crime.
8. Britain's youngest lottery winner, Callie Rogers was ecstatic when she scooped up £1.9 million ($3m) in 2003 at just 16 years old. The supermarket checkout girl from Cumbria ditched her job and spent big on cosmetic surgery, drug-fuelled nights out, holidays and gifts. Now 33, she was recently given a driving ban after crashing her car whilst high on cocaine and reportedly all spent up now claiming Universal Credit.
9. Brits Martyn Tott, 33, and his 24-year-old wife Kay, were the biggest losers who never got the money. The couple missed out on a $5 million lottery fortune after losing their ticket. A seven-week investigation by Camelot Group, the company that runs the UK's national lottery, convinced officials their claim to the winning ticket was legitimate. But since there is a 30-day time limit on reporting lost tickets, the company was not required to pay up, and the jackpot became the largest unclaimed amount since the lottery began in 1994.
10. Infamous ‘Lotto Lout’ Michael Carroll was just 19 when he won Britain's £9.7 million ($15 million) jackpot in 2002. But according to media reports from the time, an alleged penchant for crack, parties, prostitutes, and cars put him back at square one in five years. Last we heard, the former garbageman was working as a coalman who works seven days a week.