the year is 2001 the lakers are nba champions for the second time uncle jerry jacobson has
been convicted of fraud and the attack on the world trade center towers will soon take place
across the pond the game show scandal for the ages will crown the newest millionaire
in an impressive feat that defies all understanding this is the story of how a man
and his friends cheated their way to television's richest prize and almost got away with it
who wants to be a millionaire originally aired on british television in 1998.
the game gave 10 contestants an opportunity to compete for one million dollars if they
could successfully answer 15 random questions the degree of difficulty increased with each
subsequent question as the monetary reward also increased if someone could answer all 15 questions
correctly they would join an elite group of tv geniuses and go home one million dollars richer
there have only been seven winners in british game show history one of which is modern controversy
charles ingram did indeed win the game but did so with help and was caught in the process
major charles ingram better known as the coughing major became a household name in
the early 2000s when he won the jackpot prize on who wants to be a millionaire
as only the third person to do so at that time the major his wife diane and fellow contestant tecwen
whittock would devise a master plan to ensure a correct answer for each question presented
their plan was simple after a question was presented charles would repeat the four
possible answers out loud and would wait for his accomplices to confirm the answer
when read out loud diane or tecwen would cough to confirm the choice
giving charles confidence in the correct answer the major struggled early and often relying on
his teammates to support with the correct answers it wasn't long before charles's uncertainty would
raise suspicions with the game show officials he would make some humorous comment about each answer
how it couldn't be that because he didn't know it or it wasn't that or he was certainly it wasn't
that but he was doing that to all of them and then finally pumping for an answer that he disregarded
sort of three efforts ago or three mentions before and so it was very odd it wasn't the way anybody
has ever played the game or before or since in any of the territories in the experience i've had
charles seemed unsure of every question asked and would recite the options repeatedly
the game show officials were sure that charles was receiving cues from someone in the audience
but they couldn't determine who or what those cues were
question after question i was looking i was locked onto his face and but i couldn't detect
i couldn't detect anything that was he was he didn't seem to be systematically looking at the
crowd with cheating suspicions surmounting the game show officials decided to pause the game
and resume the following day so they could review footage of what was taking place
the following day after no concrete evidence found the game continued with major charles
in the hot seat charles's strategy didn't change much resulting in needing outside help
for the remainder of the questions as charles's uncertainty grew so did tecwen's confidence as he
began to cough louder with each corresponding answer tecwen's perfectly timed coughs raised
some eyebrows from fellow contestants as they too began to notice a pattern it's just strange
because he didn't copy photoshop and rehearsals and he didn't copy after show we was in the chair
as charles neared the million-dollar question the outcome was certain the jackpot was in sight
all that stood before charles and one million dollars was a question tecwen knew the answer to
as a new winner was crowned those in attendance were truly amazed this guy who didn't seem to
know any answers outright stumbled his way to a million dollars how did he get so lucky was he an
accidental genius or was something more sinister taking place while the audience gave a standing
ovation a few audience members were unimpressed a cheater was spotted it was obvious at this
point but could the game show officials prove it on the way out charles and diane seemed stoic
was the numbness due to the shock of winning or was a guilty conscience surfacing
with the integrity of the victory in doubt the prize money was initially held
it was customary for game show checks to clear in a week's time the game show officials knew that
their time to prove foul play was limited so they went to work reviewing every camera angle
and re-listening to every sound bite on a quest to tip the scales of justice within the week the game
show producers reached out to charles to detail their findings paul smith has to ring charles
ingram to tell him he's not getting his million i have to tell you that that we have suspicions from
viewing the recording of last monday's program and subsequently studying the tapes carefully
that there were irregularities during the tipping of the show in which you participated oh good
lord now because of that i have to tell you that these suspicions have been referred to the police
on april 7 2003 all three were found guilty of conspiring to commit fraud
charles's win was struck from the record only remaining as an asterisk in the record books
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