LOST A LOTTO: Thieves Steal EUR 10,000 From EUR 10 Million Lottery Winner’s Bank

An ex-convict who won nearly EUR 10 million in the lottery has fallen victim to theft after his bank card was stolen and EUR 10,000 (GBP 8,805) was withdrawn from an ATM.

Kursat Yildirim, aged 42, from the city of Dortmund, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, poses in undated photo. He reportedly dumped his ex girlfriend, aged 50, after he won the EUR 9.9 million (GBP 8.7 million) lottery jackpot in September 2022. (@kursat.yildirim.98/Newsflash)

Kursat Yildirim, 42, nicknamed Chico, from the city of Dortmund, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, made headlines after he won EUR 9.9 million (GBP 8.72 million) on 24th September 2022.

Following the grand win, the 42-year-old son of hard-working Turkish migrant parents, who has done time for fraud and robbery, quit his job as a crane operator and went on a massive spending spree.

He reportedly splashed out more than EUR 1.5 million (GBP 1.3 million) within a month, and bought a GBP 392,000 V8 Ferrari 448 Pista, a Porsche Turbo S Cabriolet, a penthouse in Istanbul, and went shopping at luxury stores such as Rolex, Prada, Gucci and Versace.

Additionally, he bought a 20-hectare plantation containing 6,000 almond trees which he proudly proclaimed that within a few years will be producing 50 tonnes of nuts.

But following his big splash out, the Turkish-born millionaire was shocked over the weekend when he checked his balance and realised that a total of EUR 10,000 (GBP 8,805) had disappeared.

Chico said: “I was at a loss, didn’t understand anything. I’ve never been there.”

Kursat Yildirim, aged 42, from the city of Dortmund, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, poses with his new Ferrari in undated photo. He reportedly dumped his 50-year-old ex girlfriend, after he won the EUR 9.9 million (GBP 8.7 million) lottery jackpot in September 2022. (@chicoferrari488/Newsflash)

The incident reportedly happened after the 42-year-old ex factory worker came back from the city of Istanbul, in his native Turkey where he filmed a documentary about his new life in early January.

He claimed that at the time he tried to withdraw some money from a local ATM and added: “But the machine swallowed my card. To this day I don’t know why.”

Chico then called Sparkasse officials who reassured him that the problem will be solved and that a new card will be delivered by mail immediately.

But when the series of withdrawals occurred in just four hours on Thursday, 19th January, he realised that the card was probably stolen along with the PIN code in the letter.

The first withdrawal of EUR 2,000 (GBP 1,761) reportedly occurred at 6.02pm on Thursday, after which another one of the same amount followed at 8.17pm, before finally about EUR 1,000 (GBP 880) were extracted by 8.18pm.

He then revealed that the same sums were taken out after midnight, at 12.05am, 12.07am and 12.13am respectively.

Kursat said: “It couldn’t have happened otherwise. I’m just happy that a maximum of EUR 5,000 [GBP 4,402] can be withdrawn from my account per day.”

With EUR 156,803.62 (GBP 138,099.30) left in his account and numerous notifications about the withdrawals he realised that his card was blocked the next morning.

He then drove off with his luxury Porsche to the police station in Dortmund-Huckarde, where he filed a criminal complaint.

Following the report, his lawyer named Arndt Kempgens, 54, said: “If this is actually the case, the bank will have to pay for the debits from Chico’s account.

Image shows the Sparkasse certificate that proves that money was withdrawn six times in the city of Frankfurt, Germany, with Kursat Yildirim Chico’s card, undated photo. A total of EUR 10,000 (GBP 8,778) were stolen from the 42-year-old man’s account. (Newsflash)

“The account holder is only liable for unlawful disposals if he has acted in breach of contract – for example by carelessly keeping the card and PIN together and not adequately protecting them against unauthorized access.”