Credit debts swamp prize

[pies4ever]

Credit debts swamp prize
EXCLUSIVE by JANE HOWARD
17apr05

WHO Wants To Be A Millionaire? battler Glenn Hammond may not see a cent of his prizemoney. Bureaucrats are ready to pounce on his windfall.

The father-of-four, whose wife Karen was killed in a car crash four years ago, was on cloud nine after winning a chance to rebuild his life with $16,000 on the quiz show last week.
He returns to the hot seat tomorrow night for a chance to swell his purse to at least $32,000.

But his joy has been short-lived.

Bankrupt Glenn's winnings will go straight into the hands of insolvency trustees.

Viewers throughout Australia opened their hearts to Glenn, 47, and his family when they heard his tragic story.

He and Karen were hit hard by the "recession we had to have" 15 years ago. Soaring interest rates wiped out their Rosebud aquarium business and home.

The Hammonds were rebuilding their lives in Warburton, until Karen, 39, was killed.

"She was your typical, honest Aussie country girl from Shepparton who loved her kids and me and would give you the shirt off her back," Glenn said.

"I had to identify her . . . and telling the four kids of her death was the hardest thing I have ever done."

Channel 9 was flooded with calls and emails offering good wishes. A nine-year-old Adelaide boy offered the full-time dad his life savings.

Glenn dreamed Millionaire would create the opportunity to forge a new life on Queensland's Sunshine Coast with Rhiannon, 21, Emily 15, Michael, 12, and Christopher, 9.

But on Friday the full-time father received another "kick in the guts".

The finance adviser who handled his bankruptcy in December saw Millionaire and phoned Glenn to tell him he was obliged to tell the Insolvency Trustee Service of Australia of any windfall.

The trustees told Glenn to forward any prizemoney cheque from Nine.

His debts to banks, plus up to $4000 in administration fees, will be taken from the winnings. He declined to divulge the amount of his debt.

"The numbers are not certain yet, but I probably will not be left with a great deal," Glenn said yesterday.

"I know it is my fault. I shouldn't have got myself into this situation with credit cards.

"After all the kids have been through, the mistake I made was to buy things like a TV and stereo. It might have been my way of compensating for the loss of their mum, a bit of retail therapy to ease their suffering.

"Because I am still an undischarged bankrupt, I will lose a lot of money.

"But at least I will be able to sleep at night."

Millionaire host Eddie McGuire said Glenn had shown dignity in the face of adversity and, as an exceptional father, he was already a winner.

While Glenn obviously had to pay his debts, McGuire said the show offered him the chance to walk away with "a clean slate".

"With any sort of luck on Monday he will go forward and make more money," he said.

Glenn's carry over episode will screen on Nine at 8.30pm tomorrow night. He has used up his three lifelines.


http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,12878981^662,00.html