Some of you may not remember it or have lived it, but at the beginning of the 2000s there was an unusual fever in Europe with the contest 50×15 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Also broadcast in Spain, the idea was to answer 15 questions to have the chance to win 50 million pesetas first, and later a million euros. However, in 2001, the obsession and fame of the program took a 180-degree turn when a fraud was uncovered.
Outside of the UK, the noise regarding the case was reduced due to the attack on the Twin Towers, but in the English country the case of Charles Ingram became a scandal. The army major appeared on the show like any other contestant and, after showing hesitation in all the questions asked, ended up winning the prize of 1 million pounds. However, the program was never broadcast.
The incredible fraud of 50×15
After analyzing the recording the next day to edit it, a sound technician noticed something unusual. Among the audience there were two people who discreetly coughed every time Ingram reviewed the questions out loud. The contestant seemed to constantly choose the answers that matched the audience’s cough.
The two people involved were his wife and a man named Tecwen Whittock. After reviewing the questions one by one, the network decided to block the broadcast and the prize payment and, after alerting the police, the three fraud suspects ended up arrested and taken to court.
Although they were found guilty, there are still some who harbor certain doubts about what happened to this day. Some argue that the recording of the coughs was not conclusive, which, combined with Whittock’s asthmatic and chronic cough condition, raised even more suspicions about to what extent turning it into a public opinion case influenced the verdict. The program host, however, has a different opinion.
Asked about the case, Chris Tarrant stated that “they seem to ignore the fact that Charles Ingram was a complete and utter cheat, and so was his wife. And they were found guilty by a jury. I spent so many hours with the police watching tapes, going over the show time and again, before we went to trial 18 years ago that I have no doubt he is as guilty as sin.”
As it turned out, and as Tarrant recalled in an interview, the investigation revealed how a group of fans of the contest created a syndicate known as The Consortium. An organization dedicated to deceiving the system by placing group members among the contestants to fix the prizes.
“They just had a system, like people have systems for horse racing. We didn’t seem to be able to stop them because they weren’t actually breaking the law. They just turned up and played. They became obsessed with it.” Only Ingram and his two accomplices’ case apparently had sufficient evidence to file a complaint and go to trial.
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