A former soldier has been left regretting a lottery win of a lifetime after he claimed he was "conned" by a clairvoyant and his life spiralled out of control.
Mark Lipsham life was transformed in 2017 when he bagged the winning numbers in the Aukland Powerball getting £10m in prize money.
In the weeks before his win, the New Zealand dad-of-two claimed he began "dreaming numbers" which he wrote down and used for the winning ticket.
Then 53, Mark quit his job as a truck driver the very next day but for him that's where it all went wrong, reports The Sun.
He recalled: "I found that very hard and it led me to a place of problems – problems with myself because I wasn‘t operating how I always operated."
He told news.com.au that he was soon struggling "depression, stress and frustration" as people began pestering him for money.
But unused to that amount of money he struggled to work out what he was going to do with it.
In October 2019, Mark was introduced to a clairvoyant "who apparently knew about money".
Believing Kim Helmbright was a financial expert he allegedly put his trust in her.
Mark claims she began coaching him on most aspects of his life including relationships, health and his money, while charging Mark a hefty £60,000 for her services.
Text messages show how Mark came to rely on Helmbright for almost everything, according to the dad-of-two.
After receiving payment, the apparent guru allegedly told him she was "very expensive and likes to be paid when she ask for it."
Hoping to get into the property market, the trusting lottery winner claims to have handed Helmbright almost £1.5million to fund house purchases.
But when he checked up on the purchases in March 2020 he was allegedly told by the clairvoyant there were delays with the purchases.
The dad-of-two claims two months on from the original transfer, Hembright simply brushed off his questions and refused to speak to him.
By then his bank balance had slumped to £6.2million.
He told the New Zealand Herald: "In the end, it really wasn't help at all. I actually got conned and out of quite a lot of money."
A friend of Mark's allegedly uncovered she had been splashing it on homes for herself, buying two properties within months of receiving Mark's £1.5 million payment.
Furious Mark put freezing orders on both pads while launching a legal battle, claiming the clairvoyant had used "fraudulently" obtained cash to pay.
However, Helmbright said the pair had drawn up a formal Freelancing Agreement for the services which allowed her to use the money as she wished.
But evidence presented in an Auckland court showed she had either forged the document or purchased it online.
The dispute has since been resolved out of court.
Despite the setbacks Mark has gone onto find and is settling down with his fiancée.
But for any other lucky winners he had a word of advice: “Don‘t tell anyone. Don’t tell your partner.
"Don’t tell your mother, your father, your sister, your brother, your best friend, your anyone. Don’t tell no one.”
