Fourteen Australian couriers who were part of a lottery syndicate have accused their former colleague of keeping $16.6m in prize money that they claim was won on a shared ticket.
Fairfax Media reports that the couriers were part of a 16-member syndicate who each chipped in $20 a week to enter the lottery. All worked for the logistics company Toll Group and live in the Geelong area in Victoria.
But last October a syndicate member, Gary Baron, who was in charge of collecting the money and buying the lottery tickets through an online account, quit his job at Toll and distanced himself from friends after the lottery company Tattersalls Sweeps announced that there had been three winning tickets for that week’s $50m Powerball draw.
The official statement from Tatts, released the morning after the 16 October draw, said one of the winners was a Victorian man who had asked to remain anonymous.
It quoted him as saying he was in “disbelief”, adding, “I don’t need that amount of money – it’s too much for me!
“I’m going to share the prize money with my family. I’ll make sure it doesn’t change who I am but I’ll definitely be able to live a better lifestyle, with a few more toys!”
However, Fairfax reports that 49-year-old Baron called in sick to work the day after the win was announced, and handed in his resignation the following Monday.
The syndicate reportedly suspected something when one of them was sent by Toll Group to deliver celebratory champagne to Baron, courtesy of Tatts.
Now 14 of the 16-member group are taking Tatts to the Victorian supreme court demanding it release the name of the winning ticket holder in the October Powerball draw, and also that it release details of how the ticket was purchased.
The 15th member of the syndicate is reportedly in a relationship with Baron and has also quit from Toll and is not part of the suit.
The aggrieved syndicate members are arguing that Baron reneged on their deal to share the winnings, and that they are each owed a little over $1m. Baron has not commented publicly but it is expected he will claim he bought the winning ticket separately, not using syndicate funds.
Tattersalls provides official syndicate planners to allow groups to keep a formal track of their lottery tickets. It has not commented on the case.
