An Indian-origin family in Australia has turned a charity lottery prize into a windfall of more than $5 million after selling a luxury beachfront home they won last year.
Sanju and Sweety, who live in the Perth suburb of Success with their three children, had initially won the MSWA Lottery Home in May along with $100,000 in cash. The total prize at the time was valued at $4.25 million.
Instead of moving into the property, the couple chose to sell it. The Marmion beachfront home was sold last month for $4.899 million, adding roughly $649,000 to their original winnings and pushing their total gain beyond $5 million, reports Australia Today.
The couple said the win came as a complete surprise. Sanju is a mechanical engineer who moved to Australia in 2019 and had been buying lottery tickets regularly for a few years, mainly to support a charitable cause.
He said: “I came to Australia in 2019. From 2020 I was buying these tickets… more of a way to give back to society in some small way.”
At first, they did not believe they had actually won. Sweety works as a nurse educator and only accepted the news after verifying the results herself online. The couple initially thought the call informing them of the win might have been a prank.
The property itself was one of the standout features of the lottery. Located in Marmion, it is a four-bedroom, four-bathroom beachfront home with views stretching towards Rottnest Island and Hillarys. The double-storey house includes a lift, large windows, high ceilings and premium interiors.
Outside, the home features a wraparound pool and an entertainer’s deck facing the ocean, offering clear sunset views. The prize alone was already substantial but the decision to sell the home has significantly increased the family’s overall gain.
