It?s robbery after lottery for this spendthrift

A German lottery winner, in the central town of Meiningen, who blew all his winnings decided he was better off supplementing his income as a thief than claiming welfare benefits.

A German lottery winner, in the central town of Meiningen, who blew all his winnings decided he was better off supplementing his income as a thief than claiming welfare benefits.

HT Image

Shortly after the man had frittered away the last of his prize worth around 760,000 euros ($921,000) by autumn 2003, he turned to robbery, looting cars and houses for sums as small as one euro.

“He's confessed to about 60 offences,” said a spokesman for the court. “He would break in to see how much money they had, I guess you could say it was a kind of lottery too.”

The spokesman added the 49-year-old, who stopped working after his cash bonanza in 1997, had said he was too ashamed to go to the welfare office after the money ran out. “He didn't want it known that he'd spent it all.”