Posted on 04/30/2008 5:38:21 AM PDT by arbooz
TAMPA - Former lottery multimillionaire Alex Toth, who was broke and facing tax fraud charges, has died at the age of 60.
Toth was scheduled to go on trial in June, accused of filing fake tax returns with his wife, Rhoda, who has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.
By the time the couple were charged in 2006, authorities said they appeared to have no assets. The $13 million Florida Lotto money won 18 years ago was long gone, and the Hudson couple were living in squalid conditions, their only electricity coming through an extension cord rigged to their car engine.
The Toths said they lost the money through gambling, gifts and living the high life. The money created rifts in their family, leading to a lawsuit between Rhoda Toth and her son in 1996.
Toth's attorney, Bjorn Brunvand, said his client died in early April. Pasco County Health Department spokeswoman Deanna Krautner confirmed Alex Joseph Toth died April 5. The cause of death was not released.
Brunvand said the trial would have been "interesting," and that he planned to blame Rhoda Toth, who Brunvand said manipulated her husband into signing paperwork.
"I don't think Alex Toth, during the time period in question, was capable of knowingly and willingly participating in the scheme," Brunvand said. "Whatever his wife would tell him to do, he would do."
According to Rhoda Toth's plea agreement filed in federal court, the Toths won the lottery to be paid out over 20 years. When the payments were being made, their taxes were withheld. In 1999, they sold the annuity to Singer Asset and Finance for two lump sums, $1.59 million to Alex Toth and $1.49 million to Rhoda Toth.
That year, they filed tax returns reporting their income as if they had received the same annuity payment they had received before. They failed to report the lump sum payments from selling the annuity, the plea agreement states.
In subsequent years, the agreement states, the Toths falsely reported gambling losses to offset the payments they were no longer receiving.
In total, the agreement states, Rhoda Toth owes the government $1.1 million and her husband owed $1.4 million.
Brunvand said the Toths split up last year when Alex Toth went to a federal medical facility to be treated for mental problems that rendered him incompetent to stand trial. Although Rhoda Toth accompanied her husband to court for a hearing in August about his competency, when he returned from treatment that restored his competence, Rhoda Toth had "moved on to someone else," Brunvand said.
Last year, Brunvand filed with the court a letter from physician Gary Levine, who said Alex Toth had been involved in "multiple motor vehicle accidents," the most recent one on June 4.
Toth had "chronic pain syndrome," the physician wrote, as well as Type II diabetes; a poorly controlled, penicillin-resistant staph infection; and a history of severe esophagitis, gastritis and degenerative joint and disc disease.
"He also has chronic anxiety and panic attacks," Levine wrote, and was taking multiple medications.
Alex and Rhoda Toth.
I bet it was fun while it lasted.
Profoundly sad.
If I win the Lotto, I’ll be different...
I like Delaware’s campaign, where there advertising pledges to keep Lotto winners’ names confidential. That would go a long way toward eliminating some of the problems.
Yeah maybe, but the word would get out. Lottery winners would probably explode if they didn’t tell anyone.
If I win I will receive all my income from then on in Vanatu or the Bahamas ~ whichever gives me the best deal.
Mega Idiots!
Most have some sort of "required by law" statemet saying they have to reveal the names. I know CT does. But I would fight it or set up an LLC to collect it.
man....that is tax fraud....blatant.
they had a right to be worried about trial, he was going to jail
Not me. I would tell my wife, but that's it.
My direct family is all in a position where they would not need or accept money from me. Outside that circle, who needs to know?
That is the trick. Set up an LLC or a fictitious name to collect the prize. If you put your name on this thing, your phone will never stop ringing.
If one may attempt a serious thought: one hears so often of the miserable lives lottery-type winners lead, that one wonders —
1. Are the reports accurate, or “massaged”?
2. If the reports are accurate, what’s the deal?
3. Is the problem that the personality-type that will look to “quick wins” (rather than hard work and planning), and thus will play such games, is also the type that will unerringly mismanage the money?
4. Or is it simply that the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, and that the profit-factor for gaining the world and losing one’s soul is unaffected by inflation?
Dan
I sure feel sorry for people who win the lottery. The highest act of charity I can imagine is to accept their winnings for them in order to prevent the horrible life wrecking disaster this couple experienced.
The only thing I remember is to deal with "pleas for help", set up a "foundation" and direct all inquiries there to assuage any pangs of "guilt".
It all comes down, once again, to the odds.
While every once in a while you will hear of someone who wins who only plays occassionally, the odds are that the winner of a lottery jackpot will be someone who plays consistantly.
Now I admit, I buy a few tickets sometimes when the powerball reaches the $200 million plus mark, but I know that it is just a waste of money: like ordering a pizza when I don’t feel like cooking. And if I were to beat those impossible odds and actually win the jackpot, I have a pretty good idea of where the vast majority of my winnings would go: charities and investments.
But those who play consistantly are just simply very bad at math. And winning the lottery doesn’t magically grant them good math skills. Thus, they don’t realize that even the mega-wealthy have to live within their means.
As seen on TV: It's my money and I want it NOW!
Lotto winnings are covenants with death masquerading as life from the dead. Beware of gifts from the government.
I imagine that you never read the story about the guy who won 20 Million Dollars, spent reasonably, invested wisely, and retired happy. I suspect that happens more often than not. But everytime somebody spectacularly self-destructs, it is all over the front page.
Any randomly selected sample of lottery players will include both types.
I remember about 20 years ago, back when I was attending CCNY, there was a subway wreck at 2:00 in the morning under Union Square in New York and eight people were killed. I was riding that subway line a lot, back in those days, and was always kind of suspicious of my fellow travelers at around about 2:00 AM. A couple of days later the Daily News ran a box with a little biography of the people killed. Every single one of them was a decent, hard-working person either coming home from work or a college student coming home from the Library.
It is funny, but when you take a random sample of people, like these eight unfortunates who happened to be on that subway car, and they generally turn out to be pretty good folks.
That’s why I don’t play - the odds are too great...
... that I might win and be hounded for the rest of my life.
Unfortunately, this is not a very unique story. But let’s be real a 13 million lottery windfall would be probably about 8 million after raxes? Still...alot of money.
Sadly, the guy in front of me in line buying 100 tickets twice a week has a much better chance of winning that I do when I spend the change from my coffee and a roll to buy one ticket on the Powerball.
The only certainties in life are Death and Raxes...
The vast majority of lottery tickets are sold in poor neighborhoods to people who have already proven they have no skill when it comes to managing money. It’s no surprise that some will end up mismanaging their winnings but IMHO I believe that cases like this are the exception, not the rule. I’m sure most lottery winners end up living comfortably for the rest of their lives and since that isn’t newsworthy we just don’t hear about it.
This is MSM reporting. Of course it's "massaged". DUH.
2. If the reports are accurate, what’s the deal?
"Massaged" doesn't mean there isn't some truth there so ...
3. Is the problem that the personality-type that will look to “quick wins” (rather than hard work and planning), and thus will play such games, is also the type that will unerringly mismanage the money?
In some cases, yes. Several million dollars may look infinite when you first get it, but it appears to be astonishingly easy to blow.
4. Or is it simply that the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, and that the profit-factor for gaining the world and losing one’s soul is unaffected by inflation?
Gospel Truth is Gospel Truth. You expect that to change when, exactly?
5) The lottery is a tax on people who don't know statistics. They invested poorly when they were poor ... why would they invest wisely when suddenly rich?
6) Bad news sells. Where's the grab in the headline "Lottery Winner Living Comfortably on Conservative Investments"?
Agreed. My point is that if you start a moron, money only makes you a rich moron...temporarily rich.
We wouldn’t blow the money either, but can’t you see all these winning losers buying rounds at the bar on credit while waiting for their first check to clear? think of all the new best friends they would have.
Most of the "Riches to Rags" lottery stories out there (and there are many of them) are tales of the money being squandered away by relatives. Statistically, your family members are the ones you'd need to keep your lottery windfall a secret from.
How the heck could they afford to get their electricity from their "car engine"? That would imply running the car... I would certainly think that electricity generated by the car would cost a lot more than that from the local utility...
and of course - where did the money go?
“I imagine that you never read the story about the guy who won 20 Million Dollars, spent reasonably, invested wisely, and retired happy. I suspect that happens more often than not. But everytime somebody spectacularly self-destructs, it is all over the front page.”
Millions of people drive to and from work safely every day, too...but we only hear about the multi-car collisions that tie up traffic for miles and miles.
Well I lost an eye in Mexico
Lost two teeth where I don’t know
People see me comin’ and they move to the other side
of the road.
I robbed a liquor store
To make myself at home a few times
Borrowed myself a car when I needed it.
I got me a shack at the bottom of the road
Fixin’ cars and givin’ tows
Spend all my money on the lottery.
When I win the lottery gonna buy all girls on my block
A color TV and a bottle of French perfume
When I win the lottery gonna donate half my money to
the city
So they have to name a street or a school or a park
after me
When I win the lottery
Never run a flag up a pole
Like Mr. Red, White, and Blue down the road
But I never called myself a hero for killing a known
communist.
Now I can walk into any old bar
Find a fight without looking too hard
But I never killed someone I don’t know just ‘cause
someone told me to.
And when I win the lottery
Gonna buy the house next to Mr. Red, White and Blue
And when I win the lottery
Gonna buy Post 306 American Legion, paint it red with
five gold stars.
When I win the lottery.
When the end comes to this old world
The rats will cry and the rest will curl up
And God won’t take the time to sort your ashes from
mine.
‘Cause we zig and zag between good and bad
Stumble and fall on right and wrong
‘Cause the tumbling dice and the luck of the draw
just leads us on.
And when I win the lottery, gonna buy all the girls
on my block
Silver-plated six shooters and a quart of the finest
highland scotch
‘Cause when I win the lottery, the rats will shake
their heads and say that
God is good but surely works in mysterious ways.
When I win the lottery.
You should see the people I waited in line with at the DMV to renew my driver’s license. I often wonder if there is some other, secret DMV office where the normal people go, and all the weirdos and clueless people like me go the regular DMV.
I believe winners are usually pointed to counselors who specialized in such cases, not only for how to protect the money, but for other things that need to be done. I saw an interview with one of these counselors once, and that would be my first stop after winning.
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