A little background. My family comes from a smallish town. My maternal grandparents were amazing people. My grandfather ran an insurance/real estate business that was open for over 100 years (my great grandfather started it). They were absolute role models in this town, volunteering on the School Board, Library Board, very involved in their church. There wasn't anyone that needed help that they wouldn't help. Basically, great, well loved and respected.They had 2 children, my mom and uncle. My uncle "worked" for my grandfather, but pretty much wanted to golf and do whatever. When my grandfather had a stroke, my uncle seemed to step up. He took over the business, put in long hours, really grew up. My grandfather died 3 years after the stroke. My grandmother, who owned 1/2 the business, trusted my uncle, her SON, her then 48 year old son. Two years after my grandfather died, my uncle declared bankruptcy and disappeared from town. The nightmare started. The police showed up at my grandmother's apartment and told her they were siezing all her assets....jewelry, bonds, everything. Her bank accounts, stocks and bonds were confiscated. Turns out her son slipped in papers signing over everything she owned to him, without her knowledge. She was left with nothing but her social security. As the weeks went on, we found out that he took peoples insurance premiums but kept them, so they had no insurance. That included the fire department and the church where he was head usher (and my grandparents had attended for 60 years). He took taxes and social security about of the secretary's check, but never paid them to the goverment. She had been with my family's business for 40 years and was part of the family. The list goes on and on. It was horrifying. My grandmother almost died of shame. Everything he owned had been changed to his wife's name, so none of it could be touched. My grandmother wouldn't press charges, which I'm sure he counted on. He moved to Florida and made himself a new life while my mother spent the next 13 years buying clothes and groceries for my grandmother. My mother took care of everything and didn't see a dime out of what should have been a quarter million dollar estate. When my grandmother died, my mom paid for her funeral.
The IRS didn't go after him because my grandmother's money paid his debts. Basically, he got off scott free. Because my grandfather had sold their insurance for over 100 years, the Insurance Company covered everything my Uncle stole from thier clients.
Anyway, my mother just had a a newspaper article mailed to her. My Uncle won a flippin' lottery! He took home 1.2 MILLION dollars! How is that possible? Where is the justice in this world???? How could such a horrible person have something so wonderful happen?

I'm sorry.....I had to vent or I was going to explode.

WOW What a story!!!! Its like one of the episodes on 20/20. Well, in life I have learned that "what goes around, comes around." I know it may not seem like it now, but there is something to be said about bad karma and you can bet he will see his share of it sooner or later

oh... my... god... the lottery????

Holy cow! What a horrible person. Your poor grandmother and mom. I hope he gets some punishment in this life although it may have to wait until he dies. Good thing he's used to the heat in Fl because it's a lot hotter where he's going.
Sometimes winning the lottery is more of a curse. I hope everyone he knows tries to swindle him out of it.

yeah isnt it a statistic that most lotto winners end up filing for bankruptsy.........

you can always hope for that!

I'm sure he has somehow justified everything he did to himself or he couldn't have lived with himself all these years. The ONLY thing that could make me feel better would be for him to turn that money over to my mother. Let's not all hold our breath until that happens though.

Here's the press release. Feel free to find my Uncle and do whatever you think is appropriate to him.

http://www.flalottery.com/inet/currentNewsContent.do?searchID=194407

Wow, he really has no conscience. He is dead to it. That cannot make the people in his life happy either - unless they have no conscience either. THen they're not happy anyway. No joy in deadness. However, I can pretty much guarantee you that he feels dead inside. Nothing will satisfy him. He doesn't know love and sacrifice. He has no blood family now. And, he probably never will because he will most likely never ask for forgiveness.

Your mother and grandmother are very special women, the ones worth looking up to. They have shown graciousness, compassion, empathy, duty, and honor. $$$ can't buy that.

I'm sorry that the bills were what they were. Nothing I said can take away from the terrible stress and strife that he caused. But, I just wanted to say how strong your mom and the rest of the family have shown themselves to be.

Bless you!

S.

OH! I read something a few weeks ago on CNN about a woman who had won the lottery and ended up having to give it all back because they determined that the money she used to buy the ticket with was gotten by fraud. .....If you can actually prove all that you said above and alert the lottery people, I bet he'd have to give it back!

I would love it if he would have to give the money back, but this all happened over 20 years ago. Any statute of limitations would have been up a decade ago. Nope.......he's gotten away with it all, and now he's been rewarded.

I cannot begin to express how wonderful my mother is and how wonderful my grandmother was. No one could give me a better compliment than to say I took after them. That's what made it doubly hard when I had to watch the devastation he caused. He even had the nerve to come to my grandmother's funeral. No one would speak to him. He is a true sociopath. He knew his mother could never take action against him, so he took her for everything she had. My grandparents worked so hard their whole lives and she spent her last 10 years of her life having to depend on my mother and dad, both teachers who didn't exactly make a fortune.

I can only hope that there is an afterlife, and before he's sent to h*ll he has to go face my grandfather first!

hhhmmm, Jodie maybe the statue of limatations isn't up yet? You never know --my uncle's a lawyer and usually where there's a will there's a way. Can usually pin something on them --no matter how small-- to bring light to the subject.

He'll get his in the end! Eventually, and Lord have Mercy I hope it's coming soon.

I hope that scoundrel chokes on his 1.2 million! What a SHAME. His day is coming. I am a firm believer that what comes around goes around. It will, maybe not today or even next year but he'll get what's coming to him! that is awful to do to anyone but your family? Oh and yes, he's straight to hell. NO passing Go and NO collecting 200$$. Sorry to be so forward about it but i have ZERO pity for people like that! Kudos to you and your family for being the better person. Now that comes with a handsome reward!

(scoundrel
Function: noun
Text: a mean, evil, or unprincipled person )

Elle

He plans to retire from the Salvation Army!!
Just about choked on that one.

So sorry for your grandma and mom. No one deserves to be treated like that...and by family too.

mommachris

The Salvation Army...hmmmmm I wonder just how much he swindled them for???? K'ly

I've heard so many times how large amounts of money will ruin your life. (I personally, haven't been given the opportunity to try that out!)

Anyway, I bet he is miserable on the inside! I'm sorry your family had to go through all of the pain he caused.

My Uncle is a great guy......always volunteered and worked for charities. He was head usher of the church, a volunteer fireman, a paramedic....a fine upstanding man! Except for the fact that he ripped them off! I'm sure the Salvation Army down there should have been checking it's books! It is pretty ironic.

This was just a terrible blow to us. On Friday my only sister had surgery for metatisized cancer. My mother didn't need to know he won that money. I don't understand why we had to find out.

Thanks for all your kindness. It does help to feel your anger over the situation.

who sent your mother the article?

.....I would think winning the lottery has open the IRS doors to him now....and maybe its all about to bite him in the ....and the winning the lottery is just part of the karma plan

The person who sent my mother the article still lives in Hillsboro and grew up with my mother and Uncle. She knows everything that happened! I can't imagine why on earth she thought my mother needed to know about his windfall. I guess is was in the local paper.

As far as the IRS is concerned, his debt was settled with my grandmother's money. They would have no reason to go after him. The rest of her money went to pay his bills, loans and credit card debt. We figure he's socked away a bunch of cash, transfered everything he owned into his wife's name and had himself set up for a nice new life. It didn't matter much that my grandmother lost everything she had and that his sister was going to be left trying to support their mom.

It took us years before we stopped thinking about him. Now it's all back again.

Jodief---I am truly sorry all this heartache had to surface once again for you and your family. But rest assured that I bet his life has been a living h and will continue to be. I really don't understand how a person (a man) could leave one's own mother in such a state and never think about the harm and heartache he has caused K'ly

I'm so sorry that this has all opened old wounds. You and your family have suffered enough. May God give all of you peace and strength to put it all behind you again.

And, you never know what God has in mind. By giving your uncle this windfall, he may be tempting him with something that will be his downfall.

Well I always say Karma is a b*$! He will get his either in this life or the next. Trust me his is coming and what he did to your grandparents will pale in comparison to what he's got coming to him.

I really appreciate all of your support. This has just hit us very hard. I think the worst thing is thinking that he might consider this lottery win a reward for his life. He's never thought he was wrong about anything. He's so undeserving......it's just horrible.

We got bad news after my sister's surgery. Her cancer is stage 3, she'll need chemo and radiation. My mom is already paying her bills to keep her family going.

Why couldn't my mom have won money? She is the loveliest person. This never is going to end for her..........

Jodie, I am so sorry about your sister. I will say a prayer for her quick recovery, also for your family.

JodieF, first of all, I will keep your sister in my prayers. Believe me your uncle won't be as happy as he may think. Google "curse of the lottery," and you will find that winners seem to have more bad luck than good. We all reap what we sow in life so his day is coming. Your mother is a wonderful woman.

Jodie---I am so sorry to hear about your sister. I just said a prayer for you and your family and will continue to keep you all in my prayers.

Ya know, sometimes life truly seems so unfair. Like we are always getting the raw-end of the deal. Like the bad stuffs never going to end. But, everything happens for a reason. At the time you may not understand that reason, but all the roads in life that we take no matter how twisted and bumpy they may become we end up right where we are suppose to be. Somehow, someway it'll all work out like it's suppose to. K'ly

daltonam.....*S* Believe me, I was being sarcastic. He's never been a good man. he has no heart or soul. There's no way someone could deliberately ruin his own mother and have a shred of anything good in him. He never even sent her a Mother's Day card or a birthday card after he ran down to Florida.....couldn't be bothered. My grandmother would write to him, begging for money.....he never would accept her mail....always sent it back. My mom found every letter my grandmother wrote to him in her desk after Granny died.
I did have to laugh though.....my sweet Mother had always said that she'd let my Uncle be buried in the family mausoleum, because she thought my grandparents would have wanted it that way. After this she said he's gonna have to pay that quarter of a million back or no burial for him!

I really do appreciate all your empathy and your prayers for my sister. We are trying to hold onto hope very tightly, knowing that there can be wonderful outcomes.

I know often times it seems like all the wrong people get all the breaks in life but you know what? One day your uncle will have to stand in front of his maker and will be held accountable for all the horrible things he's done in his life. That 1.2 million dollar jackpot isn't going to mean anything then. So sorry to hear about your sister. I know this wonderful community will continue to hold her up in prayer. Keep the faith my friend!!!

What was he doing with all the money he was stealing? Did he have a gambling problem, or drugs? Or was he just saving it up? Have any of you spoken with him after the lottery winning? Maybe he will have some conscience and repay your grandmother.

I'm so sorry that you have had to go through all of this. Scams on the elderly are the worst crimes.