What do you do when you win half a million pounds in the lottery? Promptly get a divorce and then collect your winnings
A lucky winner of a lottery prize in China, Liu Xiang, found out he had scooped 4.6 million yuan (£467,000) in February 2015. Before revealing to his then-wife that he was lucky enough to win half a million, he proceeded to initiate divorce proceedings with his wife, Yuan Li and picked up his money a day later.
Of course though, once his ex-wife found out about the win, she decided to sue him for half of the sum after learning of his windfall and a court ordered him to pay her a quarter of the winnings from the ticket he purchased on Chinese New Year’s Eve.
What a friend
It has been reported that the relationship between Mr Liu and his wife had actually started to break down in June 2013.
She was willing to grant him the divorce after Mr Xiang, from Chonging city in the south west of the country, offered to pay off their debts worth £35,000 (250,000 yuan).
According to reports, the ex-wife would have remained in the dark about her ex-husband’s luck to win half a million had a friend not phoned to congratulate the couple soon after hearing of the win.
Mr Xiang told Chongqing TV it was merely a coincidence he had claimed his win the following day, but was still ordered to pay his wife around £120,000 (1.15 million yuan).