6 Lottery Winners Who Lost It All

Winning the lottery will change your life – yes, but not always for the better according to some winners who lost everything despite striking gold. Playing the lottery jackpot is every lottery player’s dream but it comes with its fair share of ups AND downs. Find out what happened to six lottery winners who lost it all when they won the big prize.

Lisa Arcand

Single mother, Lisa Arcand, discovered too quickly that winning over $1 million in a lottery game didn’t guarantee a happy ending. Sadly, her winning streak caused her to lose more than she bargained for in just four years.

She celebrated by throwing a lavish party for family and friends with many of them ordering expensive drinks throughout the event. She enrolled her son in private school, paying exorbitant annual tuition fees of over $10,000. Doesn’t sound too bad considering she’s won millions.

Arcand took extravagant vacations and purchased a fully furnished home. However, her major downfall was twofold – taking advice from financial services that put her in a higher tax bracket and investing in a seafood restaurant that failed within six months.

The lottery office recommends winners take annual payouts of $35,000 rather than a lump sum. However, Arcand opted for an upfront lump sum of $200,000 while still paying an annual fee of $15,000 to her financial advisors. Within four years Arcand found herself facing financial difficulties and losing everything.

Hiring one of the best lawyers for lottery winners would have saved Arcand from making huge financial mistakes. A lottery lawyer guides winners through the process of picking the best payout option while getting sound advice for investments.

Billie Bob Harrell

Harrell was the winner of $31 million in June 1997 after purchasing a Quick Pick lottery ticket for Lotto Texas. At the time, Harrell was battling to support his family as he struggled to hold down a job. Winning such a huge amount should have been the windfall Harrell needed to pick up his life, but his story ended tragically.

Billie Bob Harrell collected his first annual cheque of $1.24 million, saying at the official ceremony that he never realized “that it would get this much better.” He chose to use his winnings to improve his and his family’s lives by buying a ranch and helping other relatives out with new properties.

He bought a new car and donated generously to his church, but it wasn’t long before his spending and lending became a habit that got out of hand. Money issues eroded Harrell’s marriage, with his wife finally leaving him.

Harrell reportedly told a financial advisor that his massive winnings destroyed his life. Tragically, Harrell took his own life two years after becoming a mega-millionaire. One of the risks of winning the lottery is not remaining anonymous – this could have saved Harrell from being asked by so many for financial assistance when he couldn’t say no.

Urooj Khan

Lottery winner Urooj Khan didn’t get a chance to spend his winnings. He died before collecting his $425,000 prize after picking the winning numbers in the Illinois State Lottery. Initially, it was believed the 48-year-old winner had died of natural causes but his sibling asked authorities to investigate further.

After conducting more tests, coroner officials discovered that Khan had been poisoned with cyanide as he was about to collect his prize money. The night before receiving his winnings, Urooj Khan had dinner with his wife, father-in-law, and daughter. He died the next day in hospital.

Khan had great plans to use his winnings to pay off his mortgages, grow his dry cleaning business, and donate to his favorite charity, the St. Judes Children’s Research Hospital. Instead, he died intestate leaving his wife and other relatives to fight for months over his estate which included his lottery winnings.

Callie Rogers

Callie Rogers was 16 years old when she won £1.9 million in the UK lottery in 2003. The teen mom was ill-equipped to handle the millions that had landed in her lap, spending it on lavish holidays, designer clothing, and breast implants. She reportedly spent over $300,000 on cocaine and $250,000 on a home for her mother.

Despite promising to spend her fortune wisely, Callie Rogers couldn’t reign in her spending. The youngest UK lottery winner in history spent the next 20 years of her life throwing away money on parties, surgery, and drugs. In 2023 Rogers announced that she was making a major life change to become a better person.

Now the mother of three children, Rogers claims she’s teaching them to manage money wisely – something she never knew how to do when she hit the jackpot. Rogers doesn’t regret winning the lottery but recognizes that she should have got the right advice on how to invest her prize money. Knowing what to do if you win the lottery can save you from going bankrupt while still living out your dreams.

Mickey Carroll

Mickey Carroll was a bin man before he won £10 million in the lottery. Twenty years later, after blowing his winnings on drugs, alcohol, and sex, Carroll found himself being a bin man once more. Does he regret winning the jackpot? He claims not despite finding himself homeless, divorced, and bankrupt.

Known as the “King of Chavs”, Carroll boasted that he slept with over 4,000 women, started his day with three lines of cocaine and vodka, and enjoyed outrageous orgies. He saw nothing wrong with spending £2,000 on cocaine daily nor spending £325,000 on a mansion that became derelict.

Carroll happily says that winning the lottery gave him the 10 best years of his life and would do it all over again even though it meant losing it all. Now a coal delivery man in Scotland, 39-year-old Carroll and his ex-wife have reunited and he remains optimistic about the way his life has turned out.

Denise Rossi

Denise Rossi ran into trouble after hiding her lottery winnings from her husband during their divorce. Keeping her prize money a secret turned out to be a big mistake after filing for divorce 11 days after hitting the lottery jackpot.

Rossi must have thought she got away with it until her ex-husband received a letter addressed to her two years after the divorce. The letter was from a company that helped lottery winners to receive a lump sum payout. On further investigation, Rossi’s ex-husband and his legal team discovered that she acted fraudulently by not disclosing her assets during the divorce.

If Rossi had sought the right advice, she may have gotten away with it. Unfortunately though, she was made to pay her ex-husband annual installments of $66,800 for 20 years. What a way to lose your lottery winnings!

Final Thoughts

Making the right decision from the start can save you from frivolously losing your lottery millions. Settling old debts, investing in profitable assets, and supporting your family through sound financial advice are some of the best ways to spend your windfall.

Buying your tickets from reputable online lottery sites such as theLotter advises you to check taxable deductions so you don’t run into trouble with the law. While many lottery winners have lost it all, you don’t need to become one of them if you spend your winnings wisely.