Penniless lotto winner appears for theft

Dayalin Maslamoney, 39, a former policeman who won R10.4m in the lottery, is facing charges of theft and of impersonating a police officer.

The matter was postponed to 17 March.

He won the lotto in April 2009 with a R50 QuickPick ticket. In March last year, Maslamoney divorced his wife, Reena Pillay.

She received R2.5m, half of what was in their joint account.

A report in the Sunday Times quoted his attorney Siva Chetty as saying: "He invested his portion of the estate in a chicken franchise [and] lost everything when he didn't abide by the rules of the franchise.

Maslamoney is now penniless and sharing a tiny flat with two siblings in Pietermaritzburg, Chetty said.

Testifying earlier in support of his bail application, Maslamoney said he lived in a house owned by his ex-wife and earned R20 000 a month working in two video rental shops she owned.

He and another man allegedly stormed into a house, wearing civilian clothes, produced a name badge bearing police insignia and demanded money.

Maslamoney is out on bail of R2 000.