A resident of London, UK, squandered the money won in the lottery, went bankrupt and became homeless.
Lee Ryan, 63, an ex-convict, hit the lottery in 1995. He won £6.5 million and became the first UK lottery winner to serve a prison sentence. The man, along with his partner and three children, moved into a new one million pound mansion with a swimming pool, tennis court, sauna and Jacuzzi. In addition, Ryan bought two Ducati motorcycles, a Ferrari car, as well as a personal airplane and helicopter. Soon the man began giving money away to those in need. “I was giving envelopes of money to homeless people. It was the most satisfaction money has ever brought me,” he claims.
In 2003, Ryan separated from his partner and sold the mansion. Some time later, he married another woman and moved to Kyrgyzstan to live with her. The man then decided to invest his money and invested in a lottery project. However, according to Ryan, he got involved with fraudsters and lost a large sum of money. Later, the man took up the construction of a fish farm, but even here he failed. He claims that mafia bosses stole all the fish from him. In 2010, Ryan divorced his wife and, left with no money, returned to London.
For five years, he lived on the streets and called his lottery winnings a curse. “People always think, ‘Oh, if I win tomorrow my problems will disappear.’ That’s not true, that’s where the problems will just start,” he stated. Despite losing his livelihood, the ex-convict managed to find a job and return to normal life. He is now painting houses and claims that he feels like the happiest man alive. It is noted that Ryan continues to play the lottery. The man stated that he will give away all the money to homeless people if he wins the prize again.
Although Ryan believes that winning the lottery has brought him a lot of troubles, he believes that winning has saved him from a life sentence. The man admitted that he was about to commit armed robbery when he suddenly won the lottery. When he became a millionaire, he gave up criminal activity for good. “I am very grateful to be who I am now. I am more honest than ever before,” he says.
