A husband in the middle of a divorce battle sent his Lottery winnings to his mum in the hope of keeping his nurse wife from laying her hands on the money.
The British man, known only as NJ, won more than £11million after playing Euromillions back in 2015 and wanted to stash the majority of it during the split in 2018.
When he sent the sum to his mum, she tried to transfer the money outside the UK, but was unsuccessful in doing so, a written judgement revealed yesterday.
She also asked bank staff for advice on establishing an offshore account in Pakistan because her son wanted to “hide” the massive winnings.
But the plan during the “messy divorce” failed because a court had already ordered that the money should be frozen.
NJ, who is a Muslim, told The Court of Session in Edinburgh that his wife didn’t want anything to do with the winnings because it had been obtained through gambling.
Gambling is considered haram – Arabic for forbidden – in Islam and he explained that the Islamic view is that using the money is “sinful”.
But yesterday Judge Lady Wise rejected this claim and awarded the wife, known only as HAJ, £4.8million saying she found the woman “credible and reliable”.
HAJ told the court that she plans to continue working as a nurse despite receiving the huge haul of Lottery winnings. NJ previously tried to claim state benefits after transferring his fortune to his mum.
In her written judgment, Lady Wise wrote: “It is rare in my experience for litigants to be exposed quite so devastatingly in an attempt to breach an order of court with a view to depriving another party of legitimate claims.
“She was straightforward in her evidence and illustrated an admirable determination to continue to pursue the work that she enjoys regardless of the financial outcome of this case.
“In stark contrast, the first defender was a most unsatisfactory witness. ” (Daily Star)
