Foreign Property News | Posted by Si Thu Aung
A MOTHER sued her son after claiming he used a devious trick to get hold of her Mega Millions lottery win.
Etta May Urquhart from California filed a lawsuit in 2012 against her son Ronnie Orender after a dispute arose over who had the right to the cash prize.
(Etta May played the Mega Millions every weekCredit: Getty)
(When Urquhart checked the newspaper the following day, she made the shocking discovery of her winCredit: Getty)
She claimed that her adult son committed fraud, conversion, constructive trust, and financial elder abuse.
The 76-year-old did this twice a week for 18 years with her retirement money.
When she checked the Mega Millions ticket and found she had won the $51million jackpot, Urquhart and her husband, Orender's stepfather, went to the station to meet lottery officials.
According to an ABC News report at the time, the lawsuit said that: "Lottery officials requested the winning ticket be signed.
"Etta May was overcome with emotions, she could barely talk and her body was shaking badly.
"Given her condition, Etta May asked Orender to sign the ticket on her behalf.”
In a declaration she submitted along with the lawsuit, the elderly mother added: "I was very emotional the entire time. My body was shaking uncontrollably, and I could barely talk."
"Lottery officials requested the winning ticket be signed, but I could not even hold a pen. I was told that it did not matter who signed the ticket."
However, the lawsuit claimed that her son "signed the winning ticket in his own name and not on behalf of Etta May."
According to the suit, he later suggested that due to increased attention and the added pressure, his mother should "tell others that she bought the ticket for Orender."
In a press conference after the win, Orender claimed that he had given money to his mother for a number of years in order to purchase lottery tickets.
"Ronnie Orender was not supportive of my weekly lottery ticket purchases. He discouraged me from playing and told me it was a waste of my money," Etta May wrote in the declaration.
The complaint reiterated that she bought the lottery tickets with her own money.
The lawsuit which was filed in Kern County on April 23, 2012 noted that she agreed to this plan and her son chose to receive the prize in a lump-sum payment of $32.3million.
He claimed to Mega Millions at the time it was "to take care of his parents and other family."
However, the lawsuit stated that Orender instead invested the winnings to give himself a monthly income.
He also spent $2.3million on four houses in the area and 10 vehicles, according to the ABC report.
In the declaration, the hurt mother wrote: "Of the total lottery winnings received, I have received approximately $125,000 in cash, a Lincoln SUV and I have been provided a house to live in, but I am not the owner of the house."
Orender's stepfather Bob Urquhart was the co-plaintiff in the lawsuit alongside his wife.
A confidential settlement was reached between the two parties, according to Bakersfield.com.
The terms of the settlement agreement were not disclosed.
Ref: I sued my own son over my $32.3million lottery win after he took control of my fortune with a sneaky trick ( the sun)
