When a North Carolina woman won the Powerball lottery, she thought her problems were over. Instead, her local pastor sued her for $10 million.
Marie Holmes won $188 million in the North Carolina Powerball lottery, choosing to take her winnings in the form of a $127 million lump sum, per Inquisitr. The mother of four was struggling to pay the bills for her children and worked several jobs to keep the household afloat.
Kevin Matthews, a pastor at a local church who had given Holmes spiritual help and counseling, claimed that he and Holmes had a verbal commitment for a large donation to help Matthews purchase a parcel of land.
Holmes and Matthews originally had planned to work together to purchase land for a retreat center at Matthews’ suggestion, and he had asked for $1-2 million from Holmes to facilitate the deal.
Holmes did pay Matthews $700,000 for the purchase of the land, but Matthews felt their verbal agreement entitled him to more. And so, he sued.
“The bottom line…I just want her to do what she said she was going to do,” Matthews said, according to Centric TV. “I want peace and to do what God told me to do. I want her to do what she said she was going to do. I really feel like a warrior for Christ and people need to be accountable.”
Matthews claimed he had to ramp up the dosage on various antidepressants and other medication as a result of the issues between him and Holmes.
“I didn’t see this coming and I think it was a third party that came along and told her not to do this,” Matthews added, questioning whether it was Holmes’ aunt, who was named the chief executive of a fund in Holmes’ name, behind the cancellation of the agreement.
Holmes felt the stress of being financially accountable not only for the land Matthews wanted to buy but also helped bail her boyfriend out of prison several times.
According to a report from Black Web America, Holmes had shelled out nearly $21 million to keep Lamar McDow out from behind bars.
She also purchased a home for her mother in Seattle, WA, and bought an entire business for her fiance to run.
Television personality Iyanla Vanzant, the host of the show “Fix My Life,” took it upon herself to help Holmes during the transition from poor to wealthy.
“It is my intention to show Marie that hers is not a problem of wealth,” Iyanla says. “It is a problem of maturity, of self-respect and of dignity.”
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