$188 Million Lottery Winner Sued for $10 Million by Pastor for Not Donating to Church

Marie Holmes’ life was completely turned around when she won the Powerball lottery jackpot worth $188 million. But not long after receiving a large part of her winnings in a lump sum, she became the subject of several news reports. She became infamous for using her money to repeatedly bail her boyfriend out of jail. She reportedly spent $21 million on bail money alone.

A year after the controversy, Holmes was again back in the news. She was being sued by a pastor who claimed she promised their church a donation from her winnings.

Pastor Kevin Matthews said that on one visit to Holmes’ house, the latter promised to make a donation to their church.

The pastor claimed he was suffering from emotional and mental distress after Holmes went back on her word. According to the pastor, they had agreed to a $1.5 million donation that was going to be used to purchase a piece of land and build a retreat facility. The pastor told Lottery Post:

“Because of the emotional distress and mental stress, they put me through, I had to start taking more medicine for anxiety and depression due to this situation.”

After their verbal agreement, Pastor Matthews spoke to several realtors.

He reportedly made a verbal promise to purchase a certain piece of land and to give donations to other people and their ministries. He also reportedly spoke to Holmes’ accountant who was tasked to take care of the matter. But after some time, the pastor had trouble getting in touch with Holmes.

Holmes reportedly gave an initial $700,000 as a donation to her church, but she did not complete the amount of $1.5 million. She also started a foundation and appointed her aunt Carmel Wheaton as the executive director. It was Wheaton who spoke to the pastor and said they will no longer send him money.

Pastor Matthews claimed he tried to talk to Holmes, but his calls weren’t returned.

The unfortunate turn of events led to the pastor filing a lawsuit against Holmes. Pastor Matthews was quoted by the Lottery Post as saying:

“The bottom line … I just want her (Marie Holmes) to do what she said she was going to do. I want peace and to do what God told me to do. I want her to do what she said she was going to do. I really feel like a warrior for Christ and people need to be accountable.”

What do you think of this story? Was the pastor right to sue Holmes? Let us know what you think in the comments section.