HK man, 36, buys lottery ticket with colleagues, wins S$4.84 million, allegedly refuses to share winnings, gets arrested

A 36-year-old man in Hong Kong has been arrested on suspicion of theft, after he allegedly refused to share a Mark Six lottery prize worth around HK$30 million (S$4.84 million) with 14 colleagues who had chipped in to buy the winning ticket.

Refused to split prize money evenly among group

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), a 53-year-old man made a police report on Sep. 10, stating that he was one of 15 colleagues, reportedly comprising staff from Hong Kong's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), who had pooled money to buy a Mark Six ticket for the Sep. 5 draw.

The ticket was bought by their 36-year-old colleague, who also held the bank account the winnings were paid into.

Sing Tao Daily reported that the man collected the winnings and then took leave from work, only informing his colleagues three days later that he wanted to keep HK$10 million (S$1.61 million) of the prize for himself.

He allegedly argued that he deserved a bigger share for having organised the ticket purchase, with the rest to be split evenly among the group, leading to a dispute.

A meeting was called on the evening of Sep. 10 to try and resolve the matter, but the ticket-buyer reportedly insisted during the roughly 30-minute negotiation that he would not divide the winnings.

He continued to take leave from work in the days that followed, which reportedly raised concern among colleagues that he might abscond with the money, according to Sing Tao Daily.

Worried that their colleague intended to keep the entire prize for himself and disappear, the 53-year-old man filed a police report.

Arrested on suspicion of theft

Local police confirmed on Sep. 11 that the man had been arrested on suspicion of theft, and remained in custody.

FEHD said that it was aware of the ongoing police case and would cooperate as needed, and could not comment further while investigations were underway.