Woman sues and divorces husband after discovering secret lottery win
A man who kept his multi-million dollar lottery winnings secret from his wife has been ordered by the courts to compensate her.
The Chinese man, whose surname was given as Zhou, won a staggering 10 million yuan ($2.1 million AUD) in 2021 and concealed his hefty new fortune from his wife.
His wife never knew about the cash pile, as Zhou never bought her any lavish gifts or did anything monumental to celebrate the win.
Instead, Zhou transferred two million yuan to his sister, and a further 700,000 yuan to his ex-wife so that she could buy an apartment for herself.
Zhou's wife, whose name is unknown, eventually found out about the winnings, and fied for divorce as soon as she discovered the secret fortune.
She also decided to sue him, as she asked the court to grant her two-thirds of the money remaining after tax.
The woman should have been entitled to half of the money on account of being married to Zhou, and asked the court for more due to him going to great lengths to conceal the jackpot from her.
A court in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, agreed with her and told Zhou he had to reimburse his now ex-wife for 2.7 million yuan ($560,000 AUD).
Unusually, this kind of secrecy with lottery winnings is not uncommon in China.
In 2022, a man kept his eye watering 219 million yuan (AUD$47,068,869) lottery win a secret from his wife and child so they don’t become lazy.
Known only as Mr Li to conceal his identity, the man dressed up in a yellow cartoon costume when he accepted the huge win at the lottery office in Nanning, in the southern region of Guangxi.
“I did not tell my wife and child for fear that they would be too complacent and would not work or work hard in the future,” he told Nanning Evening News.
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