ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — A woman who won millions in the Virginia lottery 11 years ago is now deep in debt to a Florida company that lent her money using the winnings as collateral.
Suzanne Mullins, who won $4.2 million in 1993, owes $154,147, a circuit court judge ruled last week.
Mullins couldn't be located for comment. Her lawyer, Michael Hart, blamed her debt on the lengthy illness of an uninsured son-in-law who needed $1 million in medical bills before he died in 2000.
"It's been a hard road," Hart said. "It's not been jet plane trips to the Bahamas."
When Mullins hit the jackpot in January 1993, she planned to split the money three ways with her husband and daughter. After taxes, Suzanne Mullins' share worked out to 20 annual payments of $47,778.84.
But the payments weren't enough, and money got tight. Mullins decided in 1998 to take out a loan with People's Lottery Foundation, a company with the financial niche of serving lottery winners who need their money faster than the annual payments can arrive. The foundation lent Mullins $197,746.15, which she agreed to pay back with her yearly checks from the Virginia lottery through 2006
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2004-05-03-lottery-winner_x.htm
Suzanne Mullins, who won $4.2 million in 1993, owes $154,147, a circuit court judge ruled last week.
Mullins couldn't be located for comment. Her lawyer, Michael Hart, blamed her debt on the lengthy illness of an uninsured son-in-law who needed $1 million in medical bills before he died in 2000.
"It's been a hard road," Hart said. "It's not been jet plane trips to the Bahamas."
When Mullins hit the jackpot in January 1993, she planned to split the money three ways with her husband and daughter. After taxes, Suzanne Mullins' share worked out to 20 annual payments of $47,778.84.
But the payments weren't enough, and money got tight. Mullins decided in 1998 to take out a loan with People's Lottery Foundation, a company with the financial niche of serving lottery winners who need their money faster than the annual payments can arrive. The foundation lent Mullins $197,746.15, which she agreed to pay back with her yearly checks from the Virginia lottery through 2006
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2004-05-03-lottery-winner_x.htm