Student Spender
Perth university student and part-time cinema worker Sherif Girgis made history in 2007 when he won $32 million, then the biggest lottery prize ever handed out in Western Australia. He was just 23 when his life changed forever.
He splashed out on a pub, a nightclub and an $880,000 boat after seeking advice from real estate agent Russell Poliwka, but just five years later, Sherif’s dream win turned into a nightmare when he lost $27 million because of these bad investments.
With just $5 million of his winnings left after those ventures failed, Sherif sued Russell for $3.7 million, claiming he’d been given misleading and negligent advice. The Supreme Court awarded him more than $2.1 million because of the business disasters.
Big Regrets
When US businessman Andrew “Jack” Whittaker scooped an unimaginable $514 million in 2002, he donated millions to charities, gifted the clerk who sold him the ticket a new house, a car and money, and drove around his neighbourhood in a Lamborghini, throwing cash out the window.
But even with good intentions and a generous heart, Andrew would become one of the most cursed big lottery winners of all time.
Thieves broke into his car twice and stole more than $1 million. He became embroiled in legal battles with a casino and his wife of 42 years received millions in their divorce.
Even worse luck followed, with Jack’s 17-year-old granddaughter Brandi dying of a drug overdose and her mother Ginger passing away five years later at the age of 42. His uninsured mansion burned down in 2016 and he died four years later.
Andrew admitted before his death that he regretted ever buying his winning lottery ticket.
“I pretty much lost everything I had and held dear in life,” he shared.
Cash Killing
Maria Devrell’s $5.3 million Lotto win in 1999 cost the Aussie factory worker her life. The family friend and accountant she picked to help manage her new-found fortune attacked her with a mallet, then suffocated her 12 years later.
Maria worked at a Sara Lee factory and her husband David was a train guard at the time of their win. Neither had much investment experience, so the pair gave financial advisor Peter Kelly power of attorney over their finances.
When he lost almost $1 million in two failed property investments, a fight broke out between him and Maria, 55, whom he accused of “wasting” money before killing her. He then left for a hunting and motor-bike trip with an unsuspecting David.
Kelly was sentenced to a minimum of 13 years in jail and is eligible for parole later this year.
Drug Haze
Plumber Joshua John Winslet was just 22 when he won a $22 million Powerball jackpot in Alexandra, Otago, in 2017 and moved to Adelaide to start what should have been a great new life. Five years later, he was found guilty of supplying MDMA and having an unlicenced firearm in South Australia’s District Court.
Life spiralled out of control when Joshua became addicted to drugs and allowed others to use his home as a drug den. He was spared jail after his “wake-up call” and fortunately left some of his fortune in the hands of his parents.
