Man who gave wedge of £10m lottery win to ex-wife lost it all in 10 years
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A man who gave away a wedge of his £10 million National Lottery win to his ex-wife has been left with nothing.
John McGuinness is a true rags to riches and then back to rags story, having started out his 30s earning just £150 a week as a hospital porter while living at his parents' house.
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However, his life would change forever in 1996 when he bagged an eye-watering £10,055,900 jackpot and became Scotland's biggest ever lottery winner.
For a while, it seemed John was on top of the world.
He soon started splashing the cash, spending £140,000 on a Ferrari Modena Spyder, £500,000 on a house in Majorca and £1.3 million on a mansion in South Lanarkshire.
While these are pretty wise investments, John's venture into the world of football would lead to his unfortunate downfall.
A couple of years after his win, the footy fan decided to put money into Livingston FC - and we're not talking about small change here.
John ploughed around £4 million into the club, only for it to go into administration in 2004.
And since he had agreed to be liable for the bank loans, it meant that he picked up the debt when the team went under.
The lotto winner took the case to court, claiming he was duped by his former business partner and Livingston's ex-director, Dominic Keane, into making the investment.
Keane was accused of fraudulently securing £2.3 million in loans, overdrafts and guarantees, claiming there was a partnership between himself, John and business tycoon William Haughey.
But eventually John lost the case and he was left to pick up the pieces.
Alongside the Livingston debt, he was said to have given away £3 million of his winnings to family members, including £750,000 to his ex-wife.
In 2009, John revealed that he was struggling to make ends meet, telling the Daily Record: "I know in the eyes of the law nobody is to blame for me losing my money... but I know who I blame.
"I gave my money to Dominic Keane and now it's all gone and I've got nothing - someone must have taken it.
"If I had never met him, I'd still be sitting with about £5 million in the bank and I would have been quite happy enjoying a brilliant life.
"I had the Ferraris, the designer wardrobe and the luxury holidays, I had everything I had ever dreamed about and more.
"Now I'm worried about how to pay for the shopping.
"The cars are all gone, the holidays are memories - everything disappeared with that one phone call from my mate."
John was eventually declared bankrupt, with his story proving to be yet another cautionary tale of the lottery winners' curse.
"The hardest part is knowing it wasn't my fault. It would have been easier to start again if I'd known I was the culprit," he explained.
"I might be an idiot but it wasn't all me. I gave money to a guy who I trusted and he made it all disappear.
"I don't regret winning the lottery for a second. My only regret is meeting Dominic Keane."
Featured Image Credit: Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo
Topics: National Lottery, Money, UK News
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