14 DAY TRIAL // A woman is suing her ex-boyfriend for ending their ten-year relationship after winning a Powerball jackpot worth $338 million (€250 million).
Pedro Quezada, of Clifton, left plaintiff Ines Sanchez, with whom he had a child. The pair also had children from previous relationships which they raised together, Daily Mail reported.
Superior Court Chancery Judge Margaret Mary McVeigh has decided to let the motion filed by Sanchez go to trial. However, she was not able to freeze Quezada's assets, as requested by the scorned ex.
“That’s what money does to people: It changes positive relationships into bad ones. [...] It doesn’t always enhance a relationship, or bring out people’s better qualities.
“Her [Sanchez’s] life has been up-ended by this winning ticket…But I am a judge. I don’t create the law. I have to follow it,” McVeigh says.
Sanchez's attorneys argue that the ticket has been bought with joint funds. The couple owned a bodega together, which was managed by Quezada's son from a previous relationship.
“Our Legislature has spoken. It specifically said, ‘For these types of arrangements, relationships, to be upheld there needs to be a writing. You cannot go forward with these types of relationships without something in writing,” McVeigh adds.
Attorney Michael De Marco notes that the money will be gone by the time the trial is over, if the assets are not controlled by the court.
“I think we’re kidding ourselves to say we’ll ever see any of that money again,” De Marco tells The Record.
“If he is permitted to continue this course of conduct, there will be nothing left to talk about,” he explains.