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May 16, 2008 9:22 am US/Eastern
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Judge Delays Wife Suit For Husband's Lotto Win
Donna Campbell Said Her Hubby Hid The Money From Her
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
To love, honor and obey may have been part of their marriage vows, but a South Florida man apparently felt sharing his lotto winnings wasn't part of the deal, and on Thursday, a Miami-Dade judge agreed.
Donna Campbell, 48, appeared before
Circuit Judge Jennifer D. Bailey demanding half of her husband's lotto jackpot.
''She has no identifiable legal rights at this time,'' the judge said. ``Where does the law say you automatically have a right to participate in the proceeds?''Judge Bailey then gave Campbell and her attorney 20 days to ammend their suit.
After the ruling, Campbell said, "It's sad. It is sad because you know it's such a betrayal."
In June, 2007, Campbell's spouse, Arnim Ramdass, 52, hit a $19-million jackpot with 16 of his co-workers at Miami International Airport. The group split the winnings – leaving Ramdass with about $600-thousand.
Campbell said not only did her husband not tell her about their windfall, he tried to hide it.
Campbell said she suspected something was wrong when Ramdass disconnected their phone and kept their television off. She says she grew even more suspicious when a postcard offering congratulations on a new house purchase arrived in the mail.
So Campbell did an Internet search on "Ramdass" and "lotto" and saw a news release from the Florida Lottery about the pool of 17 airline mechanics who won the 19 million-dollar jackpot.
"I never thought that he would cover up marital assets like that, or hide a lottery winning," said Campbell. "That's something that I thought he would share with me."
Campbell's attorney says Ramdass disappeared after his wife confronted him about the secret, so process servers had a difficult time tracking him down.
And now, she added,
"He's not showing up very often. He forwarded his mail somewhere. The mortgage is being paid - the electricity the water."Her attorney's said after the judge's ruling they will amend their lawsuit and try to
prove that the money Ramdass used to buy the lottery ticket came from his work salary, which is considered a marital asset.
The judge also suggested that divorce court might be a better venue to resolve the dispute.
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