Married man wins Rs 12 crore lottery; buys flat for ex

A Chinese man who won a lottery worth 10 million yuan (Rs 12.13 crore) has been ordered by a mainland court to pay millions of yuan in compensation after he tried to conceal the win from his wife.

The man, surnamed Zhou, won the lottery worth 10 million yuan and received 8.43 million yuan (Rs 10.22 crore) after tax. However, he chose not to share the news of his win with his wife, surnamed Lin.

When the prize money was deposited into his bank account, Zhou transferred 2 million yuan (Rs 2.42 crore) to his elder sister, said the report by South China Morning Post. A few days later, he withdrew 700,000 yuan (Rs 84.93 lakh) to help his ex-wife buy a flat.

As Lin discovered the deception, she filed for a divorce and sought to divide the couple's common property equally. She asked the court to order her husband to pay her two-thirds of the combined 2.7 million yuan he had concealed from her with his sister and ex-wife, the outlet reported.

A court in Wenzhou in eastern China’s Zhejiang province found that the money Zhou transferred to his sister and ex-wife from the lottery winning was a part of the couple’s common property.

The court also ruled that the steps he took to hide the money from his wife constituted embezzling the couple’s common property. Zhou was ordered by the court to pay Lin 60 per cent of the concealed winnings.

Neither party has sought an appeal of the court's ruling, according to Hangzhou Daily.

The story of the couple has gone viral on social media. It has garnered a variety of responses from people.

"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]?" wrote one person on Douyin, as reported by SCMP.  

“The 10-million-yuan prize has only deepened the rift between these two people,” said another.

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