And we wonder what they do with 'FREE MONEY' from taxpayers?!
Posted on 01/10/2014 11:20:04 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
St. Petersburg - A few weeks before Thanksgiving, staff at the Loving Care assisted living facility in St. Petersburg realized something had changed in Malcolm Ramsey's life.
Relatives who had never paid much attention to Ramsey, 55 and mentally incompetent, suddenly started showing up in droves. Bulging bags from T.J. Maxx and Bealls filled his half of a tiny, shared bedroom. Boxes of new athletic shoes — Nike, New Balance, K-Swiss — towered against the wall.
Then there were the rumors that Ramsey had hit it big in the Florida lottery.
Ramsey's legal guardian got involved. So did St. Petersburg police, an adult protective services worker and, eventually, a judge. And slowly, the story came out.
Sometime in October, Ramsey had won "$500 a week for life" on a scratch-off Florida Lottery ticket. With the help of a cab driver, he had gotten an ID, a copy of his birth certificate and a ride to Tallahassee to claim the prize. He took it as a lump-sum payout — $403,288.
In barely four weeks, Ramsey blew through more than half the money, with little of value to show for it. He says he wanted the cash, but by taking it all he is in danger of losing the government benefits he has relied on to survive.
(Excerpt) Read more at tampabay.com ...
Only one per election, thank you.
Was shocked by this, UNTIL went to pictures’ understanding came quickly.
No doubt insane:
'Instead, Ramsey got a cashier's check from Wells Fargo for $302,466 and immediately cashed it at an Amscot store. Amscot charged him more than $14,000 in fees.'
He had a birth certificate.
But people sure do suck. They may be lazy but they’ll run like the wind to take advantage of a sick old man.
Our tax dollars at work ...
From reading the whole article he seems quite competent. He knew he had to spend this money as fast as he could before the state found out - why he was so secretive about it and knew who to confide in to help him get the money.
exactly
It looks like they took 25% out for taxes, which might come close to covering it for the feds (no state income tax in Florida), but the IRS will still be looking for the rest of it in April.
Judge Lauren Laughlin, who monitors Ramsey's guardianship, sees another problem: Why was there nothing to keep the Florida Lottery from handing over thousands of dollars to someone that a court found incapable of caring for himself?
"You clearly can't be giving this kind of money to people who have had the right to manage their own financial affairs removed,"
Funny, the judge is worried about the state's responsibility in paying the money out, but has no concern when they take even more in ticket sales to people like Ramsey.
Seems like this guy was the last person in the world to figure out that lotteries only work because people like him are the ones who spend a lot of money on them.
All I noticed is how quickly the family leeches came out of the woodwork to be there for him as soon as they heard he won the cash...
I had a friend who’s mom won one of the first BIG Texas Lottery jackpots...At the time he and I were in the reserves together, and he had his one ChemLawn franchises and that was his source of income...
When I heard his mom won, we both went over there and told her to get out of town...Lay low, and get a lawyer...Disconnect your phone as well...Have all communications done through the lawyer...
Well, she literally went out of town, and later we heard she flat went halfway around the world after securing the payout after we all got back from Austin...
She went to stay at the Hilton in the Maldive islands...hehehe, tough duty, but I think she could afford it...
When all was said and done, and the usual family, both immediate and distant, leeches came out to her place to find her...She had already given the house to my friend, and he still for at least two more years did his ChemLawn thing, not ever asking or expecting anything from his mom...
It just goes to show that virtue, even when it comes to family successes and failures is vacant these days...And my frind still lives in that house his mom used to live in...He learned how to be humble and appreciative of her success...And I believe it will pay off later on down the road...And even then he feels he doesn’t deserve anything but his mom’s love and attention to this day...
And we wonder what they do with 'FREE MONEY' from taxpayers?!
****He won over $400K and still wants/needs/deserves government benefits? Astonishing****
Agree with you. He is 55 years’ old and will likely live off the taxpayers for another 3 decades unless some auditor catches on (i.e. does his/her job).
Don’t State and Federal tax regulators get their cut before lottery distributions???
20 pair of shoes?
Fool and his money are soon parted. Man, if I won 500 a week......
I would not rush out to buy 20 pairs of shoes, I know that much.
Ramsey took $19,678 in cash and 268 money orders, each for $1,000.
Then he started spending.
As an investigator would later learn, Ramsey cashed 21 of the money orders on a single day, Nov. 6. Almost every other day after that, he cashed multiple money orders, including the big shopping day of Black Friday, Nov. 29, when he got $8,000 and bought flat-screen TVs at Wal-Mart.
With Springer or one of his sisters driving, Ramsey also went to Tyrone Square Mall, the Ellenton outlet mall and the Wagon Wheel Flea Market, buying so many new clothes he had to get several plastic bins to hold them all. He also loaded up on $19.95 Timex watches for everyone in his family. “About 40 watches, I guess,” he says.
“He says he wanted the cash, but by taking it all he is in danger of losing the government benefits he has relied on to survive.”
Seems like govt aid is as hard to quit as crack.
If Obama had an Uncle (who wasn’t here illegally)....
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