Runner-Up Lawsuit of the Day: Campbell v. Ramdass
If we hadn't already bestowed our Lawsuit of the Day prize, this bizarre tale might have taken the cake.
Meet Donna Campbell (pictured; she looks like a non-green Princess Fiona). When the ex-beauty queen married Arnim Ramdass, she didn't take his name -- and one can hardly blame her.
But she's happy to take his money (which may really be "their" money; more on that below). From the Miami Herald:
Some husbands shower their wives with gifts when they win the Lotto. Arnim Ramdass kept the good news to himself. And when Donna Campbell found out on her own, her husband went AWOL, leaving the former beauty queen emotionally drained and financially desperate.So she sued.
Campbell v. Ramdass, the lawsuit, comes to a Miami-Dade courtroom this week. It's a tale of luck and betrayal, a case study in how a financial windfall can make a seemingly stable marriage go sour in a hurry. At stake: $600,000 in winnings, Ramdass' cut of a $19 million jackpot he split with 16 other mechanics at Miami International Airport.
Discussion picks up after the jump.
This part is especially strange:
The spousal spat -- yep, they're still married -- has taken some bizarre turns since it was first reported in The Miami Herald in November.Ramdass, who eluded process servers for months, eventually returned to his job and resurfaced at his Miramar home. He and Campbell, who said their vows in 2005, run into each other at the house but do not speak or e-mail or otherwise interact. It's a house divided.
''Like ships passing in the night,'' said Campbell's attorney, Bruce Baldwin of Miami's Mase & Lara.
So what's the lawsuit about?
Campbell wants at least half of the loot, figuring she's entitled because the winning ticket was bought with marital assets. In his legal response, Ramdass says she doesn't deserve a penny....Campbell, 48, a former model and runner-up at the 1979 Miss Trinidad and Tobago beauty pageant, said her husband's refusal to share his good fortune has burdened her. He always handled the money. She did not work outside the house.
He's apparently been paying the mortgage and bills, but other than that she is broke and despondent.
''I have to rely on my friends to come and take me to lunch, bring me dinner,'' Campbell said from the clean, white living room of her well-appointed home in the Silver Lakes development. ``I'm extremely stressed about everything. I don't know what I'll do if this goes on much longer.''
A familiar -- and cautionary -- tale. If you're in a relationship where your partner is the main breadwinner, it's wise to figure out ways to cultivate (or preserve) marketable skills of your own.
And just when you thought things couldn't get any stranger:
The saga started when Ramdass hit a $19 million jackpot in June along with 16 co-workers at Miami International Airport. The lucky numbers -- picked by the computer, as was the group's custom -- were 6, 31, 34, 44, 45 and 49.Instead of taking $19 million over time, the group opted for $10.2 million in a lump sum, which translated to exactly $600,000 per player before taxes.
Campbell said Ramdass didn't tell her a thing. But he started acting suspiciously, she said, disconnecting the phone line and forbidding her from watching TV.
Alarm bells went off when she found a postcard congratulating her husband on buying some out-of-state property.
She Googled her husband's name. There it was: a Florida Lottery press release about the lucky airline mechanics.
As for the future of their bizarre relationship:
Campbell said she will divorce Ramdass once the lottery dispute is finished. She doesn't have the energy or money right now, she said, but knows their relationship is beyond salvage.''It's over between us,'' she said. ``I just want him to tell the truth.''
Question: Why not just file for divorce, and lay a claim to the $600K through that proceeding? Ramdass claims that "he bought the ticket for his daughter Janelle, from a previous marriage, who lives in Orlando." But that's something that Campbell could litigate in the divorce, one would think.
We're not experts in Florida divorce law, though; if you are, please fill us in on what we're missing.
Couple's Lotto dispute going to court [Miami Herald via McClatchy]
(16) Comments
First to say he probably Ramd- Da-Ass of that beauty
I'd rather split a lotto ticket with Cameron Diaz.
Neat case, Lat--good job posting this! I am not a FL practitioner, but surely they have a pretty easy do-it-yourself system for at least filing the complaint. She could then seek to have him, as the moneyed party, pay for her legal fees; he certainly has the assets to do so. (How does she have money for a civil lawsuit, and not a family one, though???) What her hubby's doing is certainly ripe fodder for divorce, and might well get her a better result in family court, where they could take into account her mistreatment more readily. Her claim is really a family one, anyway; I find it hard to see a regular ol' civil judge getting mixed up in a family dispute like this--isn't that what they always tell you in contracts class? I think the fraud of his supposedly buying this ticket for his daughter will also easily come out in the wash, especially in family court. Go to family court with this!!!!
yes, forbidding your wife to watch tv is "suspicious." What is this, a BDSM relationship founded on TV?
JT says he parted ways with the Diaz, he now seeks this lottery winner. JT says Diaz's Jack O'Lantern smile ain't all the shiznit in bed.
Acting like this over a measly before-tax 600k is so TTT.
so all in all, this guy's getting $150,000 after the divorce and taxes. Not counting the house he'll lose.
Was it worth it?
JT says being a closet case is hard with usher humping your leg all the time.
I know Ramdass. Nice chap. He lives near my auntie in Manassas, Virginia.
Guys in my high school used to win the lottery and cut and run when their gals found out all the time; it was no big deal.
FRAT STUD
Even if she wins, her portion of the winnings minus legal fees and taxes might sustain her for... two years? Three or four on the outside? Then she'll most likely be exactly where she is now, except older. It's depressing.
5:48: If she is financially savvy, she can invest the money in plastic surgery and then find herself a new husband before the money runs out.
Here's an easy answer why not to file for the $600k in the same proceeding as the divorce:
BILLABLE HOURS. DUH. Mr. 305 Lawyer wants a cut of the 600k, bro.
One would like to think that Dave Latte spends all his time scouring the internet for headlines, but in reality, he just watches Court TV re-runs:
http://www.courttv.com/news/2007/1120/campbell_lotto_ctv.html
"a $19 million jackpot went to a company called Ibis Corporation, listing the names of a group of her husband's coworkers. There was a Ramdass on the list, but it wasn't Campbell's husband — it was Janelle Ramdass, his daughter from a previous marriage. The company, [Campbell's Lawyer, Richard Lara] contends, was formed as way to hide the money from Campbell."
Hey guys . . . let's form a corporation! Just so we can hide the profits from my wife!
"Janelle Ramdass and the Ibis Corporation were named in the suit along with Arnim Ramdass. They are accused of fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, conversion and violating Florida's fraudulent transfer act."
Really? The Fraudulent Transfer Act?
And then, the article ends with this classic:
"Lara, who also represents a man whose wife cashed a $28 million lottery ticket the day after their divorce became final, said he hopes that the threat of his daughter facing penalties will bring Arnim Ramdass out of hiding."
Um, so this attorney has made a specialty of domestic disputes arising from lottery winnings?
9:31 - nice find.
This is a good example of what happens when people get greedy!!!! This windfall will be swept away when all the proceeds go to the lawyers to settle this mess. God gives and God takes away.