'Millionaire' trial: Major guilty
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- A British army major was found guilty on Monday of cheating to win the jackpot on the hit TV quiz show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" with the help of a coughing accomplice.
Major Charles Ingram, 39, hatched a plot with college lecturer Tecwen Whittock, 53, to con their way to the million pound ($1.58 million) top prize using a series of coughs to indicate the correct answers.
The pair were found guilty at London's Southwark Crown Court of conspiracy and "procuring the execution of a valuable security by deception," in other words the million pound cheque.
A verdict on a conspiracy charge against Ingram's wife Diana had yet to be reached.
The plot was uncovered when production staff on the show in September 2001 became suspicious of loud coughing and called in police. The cheque to Ingram was then stopped, and the show was never broadcast.
"Millionaire" has become one of the most successful television formats across the world, broadcast in more than 100 countries. Since it started in Britain in 1998, just over 50 people around the globe have managed to win the top prize.
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