The hunt is on for Italy's record lottery winner (News Feature)

By Peter Mayer Aug 23, 2009, 10:12 GMT

Rome - In the medieval hamlet of Bagnone, after a night of celebrations,and a few spumante-induced hangovers, the identity of who won the 146.9-million-euro (210-million- dollar) record jackpot prize ticket in Italy's state lottery remained a mystery Sunday.

Sure, almost everyone in this Tuscan town of just under 2,000 residents claims to know who the new multi-millionaire - the winning sum, rounded off tops 148 million euros - is after Saturday night's Superenalotto lottery draw.

It's just that no one is telling.

'Yes he called me, to say thank-you,' said Vanni Simonetti, owner of Bagnone's Bar Biffi where the winning ticket with the correct six- number combination: 10 - 11 - 27 - 45 - 79 - 88 was sold for the price of just two euros.

'He is young and generous, that's all I can say,' Simonetti added.

However Simonetti's partner and the bar's co-owner Annamaria Ciampini appeared less certain.

'There are many tourists in these parts, including English, French and Germans,' she said.

'That amount of money would cover the municipal budget for 70 years,' said Gianfranco Lazzeroni the mayor of Bagnone which has long faced a shrinking population as people seek better job opportunities elsewhere.

'Let's hope the winner decides to become an entrepreneur, and invest in the local economy,' the mayor said.

Saturday's prize topped what is believed to be the previous highest lottery win in Europe when a 25-year-old Spanish woman in May won 126 million euros.

And Italian newspapers on Sunday were full of advice, much of it tongue-in-cheek, on what the lucky winner should do with his or her new-found fortune.

If the winner is a fan of top-flight football club Inter-Milan, he should resist all temptation to buy back star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was sold in the off-season to Spanish giants Barcelona, proffered Corriere della Sera columnist Beppe Severgnini.

By the same token, the winner should also avoid climbing to the top of the local church's bell-tower to shout out in joy, or to seek out a favourite primary school teacher and in gratitude 'kiss her in the street.'

In a more serious manner, Carlo Gentili of savings management firm Nextam Partners, suggested that the winner should invest around 40 per cent of the jackpot prize in mutual funds and government bonds that should guarantee safe returns of around 3 per cent.

Another 10 per cent could be used to buy shares in the stock market, a more risky but potentially more lucrative investment, while 40 per cent could go into real estate, to acquire properties in cities such as Rome, Berlin, New York and London, Gentili said.

As for the remaining 10 per cent - over 14 million euros - Gentili suggested the winner should just 'enjoy it, buy paintings, furniture, go on dream holidays, and satisfy those long coveted desires.'

But psychologist Fulvio Carbone warned of the potential threats to the winner's mental state that such a dramatic change in lifestyle could bring.

'The winner should hold on to his her job, and not abandon their family, no matter how tempting it may be discard one's previous life,' the psychologist said, adding that a supportive network of family and friends would help combat the feelings of paranoia that may set in.

'The risk is a perception that everyone else is trying to profit from your good fortune with the result that you end up isolating yourself,' Carbone said.

Asked what he would be doing if he had won the money, the psychologist replied: 'I would follow my own advice. Then again one never knows, perhaps I would drop everything and escape to a deserted island.'

The identity of lottery winners seldom becomes public in Italy, where the biggest prize won before Saturday's draw was 100.7 million euros, which went last October to the holder of a ticket bought in Sicily.

But one certainty is that the Italian state has reaped the greatest reward from a game where the odds of winning are estimated at about 1 in 622 million.

Since January punters have spent some 2.2 billion euros in Superenalotto tickets, of which almost one-half ends up in the treasury coffers, according to the daily La Repubblica.

Consumer rights groups have denounced what they say is a scheme to entice Italians to squander their hard-earned savings as the country's economy languishes in recession.

And one senior cleric, Monsignor Domenico Sigalini, of the Italian Catholic Bishops Conference, has likened the lottery to 'idol- worship.'

Despite such criticism, a new draw will be made on Tuesday, this time with a jackpot worth a measly 38 million euros.