Swiss Man Denied 43 Million Casino Jackpot

 Imagine winning a €43 million jackpot at your local casino, only to soon find out that the casino had no plans to pay you – due to no fault of your own. That’s the situation Behar Merlaku found himself in earlier this year, when he apparently hit a massive jackpot at the Bregenz Casino in Austria.

Merlaku, a 26-year-old Swiss man, was initially ecstatic at having hit a life-changing jackpot. But the feeling was short lived, as casino staff soon let him know he would not be receiving even a small fraction of that money.

“When I won I was ecstatic and of course I relied upon it being a real jackpot which it was,” Merlaku said. “I saw it on the screen. But then the disappointment came when two casino workers came to me and said there was a software error. They took me for a fool which I am not. I’ve played in many casinos and I know the way the cookie crumbles. It doesn’t concern me if they have a software problem.”

Casino officials have said that the jackpot was mistakenly awarded. They blame a machine malfunction, an accidental manipulation of the jackpot by a casino worker, and a faulty display for giving Merlaku the mistaken impression that he had become a multimillionaire. The case will be headed to court, with Merlaku vowing to fight for as long as he needs to in order to obtain his money.

"I will fight for this until my death,” he said. “It is outrageous what they have done to me and my family.”

According to a report in the Austrian Independent, the situation is further complicated by the fact that Merlaku has a newborn son who was born with a facial deformity – one that could only be repaired with relatively expensive plastic surgery.

"My baby has no chance of a normal life without the very best plastic surgery to correct the way he was born,” Merlaku said. “It is possible to give him a normal life but it needs to be sorted out now while he is young. I am going to pursue this to the end."