A Chinese court has ruled in favour of a man who was cheated out of his 10 million yuan (Rs 11.5 crore) lottery winnings, but he has yet to receive a single cent. Yao, a water delivery worker in his 40s, won the lottery in 2019 but was deceived by a man named Wang, who claimed the prize on behalf of his cousin, Gao.
Wang claimed the ticket was purchased by someone else after sending Yao a picture of the winning numbers. He had offered Yao 150,000 yuan (Rs 17.25 lakh) as “spiritual compensation,” convincing him to sign an agreement and delete their chat records. Later, Yao discovered Wang's cousin, Gao, had used the ticket to claim the prize and received 8 million yuan (Rs 9.2 crore) after taxes.
Yao sued Wang and Gao in Xian, demanding recognition as the rightful winner. The court ruled that Gao must return the winnings to Yao, with Wang held jointly responsible. Gao's appeal was rejected in July 2024.
However, Yao has not received any money. “The court froze their bank accounts, but there is no money in them. I've received not a single cent,” Yao said, as per the SCMP.
The homes of Wang and Gao have been put up for auction, but there have been no buyers. Yao, who earns just 3,000 yuan (Rs 34,500) a month, has spent his savings and taken on significant debt to cover legal fees.
“Before this incident, I lived a normal life. Now, I'm worried about my future,” he said. Yao's lawyer plans to seek a court investigation into the missing prize money.
Last month, an Indian-origin man became an overnight millionaire after winning a US$1 million (Rs 8.45 crore) lottery in Singapore. The prize was part of a lucky draw organised by a jewellery company, where the man had bought gold worth Rs 3.7 lakh for his wife three months earlier. The Singapore High Commission in India congratulated him on social media, calling it a realisation of "crorepati dreams."
