A MAN turned himself in to police Tuesday for failing to repay a 410,000-yuan (US$62,901) bank loan and more than 40,000 yuan in interest. He claimed his financial irresponsibility was due to an addiction to the lottery.
Zha, 47, a native of Jiangxi Province, worked as a salesman in a Shenzhen clothing factory in 1987. He set up his own business in 1994.
I spent 30 yuan buying lottery tickets and won 3,200 yuan in July 2008, said Zha.
Another prize of 6,000 yuan in the same week convinced Zha that he would soon win bigger prizes.
He began spending thousands of yuan in lottery tickets each day and neglected his business.
The only thing that could excite me was the announcement of the lottery numbers on television, he said.
After losing millions in assets in just six months, he applied for eight credit cards from six banks and withdrew cash with the credit cards to continue gambling on the lottery.
He borrowed a total of 410,000 yuan this year and his loan interest had accumulated to more than 40,000 yuan.
Zha turned himself in with the help of a friend.
He said he learned that such an overdraft amount could land him in jail for five to 10 years. He hoped a few days in jail would help him beat his addiction. The idea of making a fortune through the lottery was simply unrealistic, he said. (Tina Chen)
