Hey, Millionaire! Imagine you picked all the right numbers. Congratulations,
you just won a billion dollars! What's the first thing you do? Go shopping? Maybe. But it's a good
idea to get advice too. After all, normal people don't know what to do with that kind of money.
You wouldn't want to lose your new fortune to scammers and poor investment decisions.
That's why so many lottery winners hire a lawyer as soon as they have their check in their hands.
And there can't be anyone more suited to the job than The Lottery Lawyer, who's always on
TV giving interviews about helping new lottery winners, right? Well, that logic makes sense.
But this is a video about why you can never trust anyone when you've just hit the jackpot. Strap in.
This is Jason Kurland, a.k.a The Lottery Lawyer. You might even recognize him - as I said,
he was popping up on American TV a lot. He claimed he specialized in helping new
lottery winners protect their money. And, if you think about it, he was an expert on
the topic. But that's because he was one of the scammers that lottery winners should've avoided.
His system was simple enough to fly under the radar. He started by investing small amounts
from his victim's new lotto win. Then he'd give them the money they made off those investments.
I know what you're thinking - that's not a scam. But this first step was just to gain their trust.
Once they thought he really was helping,
he had the freedom to start funnelling the winnings out of his victims' bank accounts.
His three accomplices were right there to help him. He would tell his victims that
their money is being invested in companies that will make them even more cash. That was
a total lie. The money was actually going to fake companies set up by his mobster friends,
and he was receiving a cut every time. That was on top of his already shockingly high fees.
The lottery winners were willingly paying him tens of thousands for his services, combining into a
salary of several hundred thousand dollars. But he obviously thought that wasn't enough.
What would you pay for genuine advice if you won a billion dollars? Let us know in the comments!
Keep watching - we have the latest news on this story at the end of the video!
The money he was stealing wasn't petty cash. He soon had a collection of clients who had won
big - including one man who'd won a $1.5 billion jackpot! In total,
the combined winnings from all his clients put together added
up to more than $3 billion. That's a lot of money waiting to be stolen.
And he didn't even have to work for it - after just a few TV interviews,
these new winners were coming to him. You can't blame them - even news channels saw
him as an authority. Meanwhile, the people who trusted him with their winnings were losing
millions. And Kurland and his friends were cashing in. They were openly living lavish
lifestyles thanks to the stolen money. They were having a great time, going on exotic
holidays with their new private jets or sailing away on one of the two huge yachts they bought.
One of Kurland's partners wasn't even hiding his cash. He was openly renting a Manhattan
apartment worth $11,000 per month and was paying to be chauffeured around New York in a Cadillac.
The winners were occasionally handed a small amount of cash,
which Kurland said were interest payments on their investments.
In reality, the group was just trying to stop the victims from getting suspicious.
Luckily for the lottery winners, Kurland and his gang finally pushed it too far.
They invested some of their victim's cash with a jeweller named Gregory Altieri.
Part of the investment was what they called a "street loan" totalling $250,000. But when they
began demanding repayment of over $400,000 on the loan, Altieri realized he couldn't
repay them. That's when he found out he'd made a big mistake doing business with these people.
Two members of Kurland's group started threatening Altieri and his family.
They told Altieri they'd rip his head off in front of his kids, that they'd kill his wife,
and that they'd make him watch while they pulled all his son's teeth out. I know, it's pretty dark.
But, there's a good end to the story. Those threats were all caught on tape.
With those recorded phone calls and other evidence
found on Kurland's phone, the police now had enough evidence to put a stop to this.
What do you think is a fitting punishment for Kurland's actions? Tell us in the comments!
Here's the latest news on this story.
All four members of this gang of thieves, including Kurland, have been charged with numerous
counts of wire fraud and money laundering, among other charges. They're pleading not guilty to
all counts, and their trial is set for June 2022. But even though they're pleading not guilty, the
government is currently taking steps to recover and return some of the $107 million that was
stolen. They are executing warrants to seize 13 bank accounts and 2 properties associated with the
stolen money. I have my fingers crossed that the money will be returned to the people who won it!