Chinese woman divorces husband who hid $1.5 million lottery win, spent it on ex-wife
By Ines Shin
A Chinese man who hid 10 million yuan (approximately $1.5 million) in lottery winnings from his wife is being divorced and sued for a portion of the prize pool.
On Feb. 1, a court in Wenzhou, a city in China’s Zhejiang province, ordered the man, surnamed Zhou, to pay his now ex-wife two-thirds of the money for going to great lengths to hide his winnings for two years.
Promptly after the money was received in his bank account, he presented 2 million yuan (approximately $300,000) to his sister. Several days later, Zhou helped his previous wife buy an apartment with 700,000 yuan (approximately $100,000).
His then-wife, surnamed Lin, found out about his deceitful behaviors two years later and filed for divorce.
Under Chinese law, the money given to Zhou’s sister and ex-wife was part of the couple’s common marriage property.
Additionally, the concealment of the money from his wife was considered embezzlement of the couple’s common property.
Although Lin went to court in hopes of receiving half of the couple’s common property, she was able to secure more than she wished for — two-thirds of the 2.7 million yuan (approximately $400,000) Zhou had allocated for his sister and ex-wife.
Upon hearing about the case, Douyin users began expressing their own opinions about Zhou’s deception.
“The 10 million yuan prize has only deepened the rift between these two people,” one person commented.
“He used the couple’s common property to buy a lottery ticket and won the top prize. He wanted to enjoy it alone [after receiving the prize]?” another user questioned.
In a similar case, a man identified as “Mr. Li” won the lottery in southern China and chose not to tell his wife and child because he was worried that they would become complacent and unwilling to work.
“Mr. Li,” who won the 219 million yuan (approximately $32 million) prize in October 2022, showed up to collect his winnings in a giant cartoon costume to maintain anonymity.
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