When money brings problems. It's not the first time, it won't be the last.

A man living in Maine (USA) won the lottery in January last year. It wasn't just any prize: 1.35 billion dollars, or 1.24 billion euros.

It's one of the biggest prizes ever in the USA. And a lot of millions leads to a lot of confusion.

The winner, whose real name has not been revealed but is known as "John Doe", has filed a lawsuit against his ex-girlfriend, the mother of his daughter.

John accuses "Sarah Smith" of failing to comply with a confidentiality agreement by revealing details about winning the prize.

The winner was trying to remain anonymous (a common occurrence in these cases) but, he claims, Sarah told her father - John's father - and, from then on, various family members found out.

For the breach of the confidentiality agreement, the winner of the prize is demanding almost 100 thousand euros.

But there was a twist last Friday: it turned out that John Doe himself had told his father that he had won the prize.

Business Insider gives more details of the family "soap opera": John Doe's lawyers accuse Sarah Smith of having made false allegations about their past and of lying in the midst of the court battle for custody of their daughter. And of purposely taking the case to the public square.

Sarah's lawyers point out that John "made the mistake" of telling his father everything. That's enough to "dismantle" the complaint.

And something new has emerged that contradicts John Dos' intentions: his own father is against his son.

On Friday, the plaintiff's father said in court that his son not only told him about the money, but also promised to spend millions of dollars on his parents. "And I didn't even ask him for anything".

A $1.35 billion lottery winner’s own father turned against him in a messy family lawsuit
A $1.35 billion lottery winner is suing his ex partner, saying she broke an NDA and told family members. His father says the son broke the news.
InsiderMia Jankowicz

John denies having given details in a conversation with his father, but... admits that he told his father that he had won the lottery - while accusing his ex-partner of having done just that.

The father also told the session that he no longer speaks to his son. The last conversation turned into an argument, precisely about the lottery: "I told him 'You're not the son I knew'. He got angry, called me a dictator and a jerk. I never heard from him again - and he didn't keep any of the promises he made me about where he was going to spend the money to help us."

The real reasons
And all of this, according to the defendant's lawyers, is John's way of "pursuing her in an unfounded, expensive and intimidating legal battle because she didn't agree to resume the relationship".

In other words, behind this accusation about the lottery are the real reasons: heartbreak and wanting custody of their daughter.

He says that she behaved abusively while they were together and that he is now relying on false allegations to cancel the lawsuit.