Charles Ingram had a career as an officer in the British Army. He had been promoted to the rank of major, but after the quiz he retired by order of the military board.
Britain’s Charles Ingram won the quiz Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?) grand prize of one million pounds on September 10, 2001. He answered the question correctly:
“Number 1 with one hundred zeros is known by what name?”
A: Google
B: Megatron
C: Gigabit
D: Nanomole
Ingram answered correctly that the number was A: Googol.
However, the payment of his prize was suspended because Ingram was soon accused of cheating, so his wife Diana and friend Tecwen Whittock coughed to signal which answer was correct as he read them aloud one by one in front of the camera.
A lawsuit was filed that lasted 4 weeks. The jury deliberated for 3 and a half days and eventually found Ingram and his accomplices guilty. The couple Ingram and friend Tecwen Whittock were sentenced to suspended prison terms and another to pay a £ 15,000 fine. They also had to pay both the costs of the trial and the costs of the defense, so the couple had to give a total of £ 115,000.
Charles Ingram had by then had a career as an officer in the British Army. He had been promoted to the rank of major, but after the quiz he retired by order of the military board. He and his wife declared bankruptcy after the verdict. Ingram, meanwhile, has written several books since he became famous in the media, and today he is engaged in computer repair.
