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Lottery winners who went to jail
A look at the jackpot winners who landed in hot water.
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Lotto winner Edward Putman was jailed for fraud yesterday, after fraudulently claiming £13,000 in benefits.
Despite scooping £5 million back in 2009, he continued to apply for benefit and income support. You might think that was just forgetfulness - after all, perhaps he was too busy living the good life to remember to tell the authorities that he no longer needed financial support.
Sadly, that's far from the case - Putman even wrote letters to the Department for Work and Pensions claiming he was so poor he couldn't afford food. Suspicions arose when, despite claiming poverty, he asked to buy his council house with cash.
Remarkably, Putman is by no means the only lottery winner to find themselves on the wrong side of the law. Here, we take a look at how some Brits went from jackpot to jail.
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83Comments
25/07/2012 19:03
That first story really boiled my p*ss about that 5 million winner who claimed £13,000 and pretended he couldn't even afford food. The selfish bast**d could live off his interest for the rest of his life and he still wants to take the tax payers money. It annoys me enough people who claim job seekers for years and dont even want or look for a job but when they are super rich and go to lengths of actually writing letters they deserve nothing but prison and not a soft sentence neither.
25/07/2012 17:58
26/07/2012 18:31
Well, I know it's wrong, but that Barclay's guy Diamond made a pile of money by scamming and he is getting a 2 million pay off instead of the 6 million he was supposed to get.( boo hoo ) If anyone gets done for fraud, or drug dealing all assets are siezed. Houses, cars,savings, the lot.Unless you're a banker of course! Then the law is different. Come on people wake up! The scamming lottery winner is one thing ( you can't polish a turd ) but there are thing's a lot worse happening around us that doesn't get us so worked up and it should!
04/08/2012 16:32
everyone seems to go on about the scrongers in life;there as always been your next door neighbour with a bad back claiming but digging the garden and there was loads of jobs.But now you go for a job its £6.40 ahour if your lucky and thats permenent nights 5 NIGHTS aweek and if you dont want it their is thousands of eu workers (one group in my mind who can be very nasty and rude if theres a group of them)will work all day and night for that but most of the ones i know all share house together!!had a few interviews and in some GREAT BRITISH COMPANYS but there are over 60% eu workers!! if you want a job so you can buy a little house and live the way we are meant to you got no chance.GREAT BRITIAN MY ****.
04/08/2012 16:19
29/07/2012 22:53
04/08/2012 15:47
26/07/2012 14:26
worked all my life people around me know how to milk the system and get everything not ryte but who realy cares.just for example i know a person who as a bought house who rents it out can go on a cruise each year and get this florida with her seven kids and own a holiday home and even better none of them work.so if anyone knows please tell me im sick of paying for all the spongers
27/07/2012 00:10
08/08/2012 10:24
Why would you want to BUY your own council house with all that money in the bank?? you could buy a nice place anywhere!! for you and your family and do some real good with the money. Obviously a moron as well as a greedy little sh*t
Just proves the point though if you think about it,,,,,,you can put lipstick on a pig but it remains a pig!!
25/07/2012 23:24
30/07/2012 15:03
07/08/2012 14:58
I don't quite understand how these sneaky people get away with it for so long - I'm disabled n on benefits, made an honest mistake + owned up immediately but for years after had 'people' checkin up on me, trying to frighten me, arranging meetings' so we could discuss the situation' etc etc. Why don't they go after the obviously dishonest crettins- we all know who they are - instead of going round n round in circles getting nowhere?
04/08/2012 13:20
it is about time the government got there finger out and got the cheats and layabouts back to work they get to much money on the ss. people like me and my wife have to work bloody hard for our money .They will not go back to work if they still get more money than people that work hard for theses. lotto winners should rot in jail for what they have done there is so many people that really need a help in hand .everybody is classed as cheaters it should not be like that.
29/07/2012 19:48
27/07/2012 15:51
He got caught didn't he? So atleast the system works somewhere down the line. The DWP carries out stringent enquiries before handing over money, if people don't notify them of changes, how can they cut off the supply. He got caught, as did those pesky MPs. So it is getting better. Relax everyone, it's too hot to get wound up. We have bigger problems like greedy councils.
26/07/2012 14:56
26/07/2012 13:06
30/07/2012 15:05
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