Imagine winning the lottery and not being allowed to cash the check. That’s what happened to Imagbe Ehizomwengie, a 36-year-old Nigerian man living in Turin, Italy. According to the Guardian, which first reported his story, Ehizomwengie used money he had earned selling handkerchiefs and begging outside a supermarket to buy a €5 Gratta e Vinci, Italy’s version of a scratch-off lottery ticket, last October. He scratched it off and discovered he had won €500,000. He wept tears of joy and relief, only to find that the celebration was a little premature.
Why a lottery win could not fix his legal status
