Dispute Breaks Out Over $40m Australian Powerball Win

 

DISPUTE BREAKS OUT OVER $40M AUSTRALIAN POWERBALL WIN

Earlier this month we told you about a group of factory workers from Australia who won a $40m Australian Powerball prize with their first ticket.Now another worker is claiming he should receive a share of their winnings from the May 5 draw.The man, who wishes not to be named, alleges that he was “swapped” for another person who took his place in the syndicate. The 14 members each stand to take home $2.85m from their Australian Powerball win. Now this “15th member” wants the others to each take a cut of $285,000 to give him the share he believes he deserves.The syndicate had won the Australian Powerball jackpot with their very first ticket. That's like Lisa Quam from Washington, USA, who won a $90m Powerball jackpot with her first purchase. A Canadian syndicate had similar luck with a debut $1m Lotto Max win.Speaking on Friday he said he felt “betrayed” and “let down” by the other syndicate members. He added that if someone else was in this position, he would “be the first one to talk to the group to do the right thing. I have worked with these gentlemen for five years and when they’ve fallen on tough times, either at work or at home, I have supported them."It's the latest lottery dispute in Australia. A couple of friends fell out over a $2.5m Australian Tatts Lotto win. Another syndicate had problems after winning a $16.6m Australian Powerball prize.Shine Lawyers, who are representing the aggrieved man, claim their client has been “wrongfully excluded” from collecting his share of the $40m Australian Powerball jackpot. They claim that their client was a fully paid up member of the syndicate, something the winners have refused to acknowledge.The lawyers are requesting that Oz Lotteries do not pay out the winnings to the syndicate while “it is unclear who was a part of the syndicate and who wasn't.” The syndicate's winnings aren't due to be released to them until May 19 but the lawyers say if that goes ahead “the winnings need to be frozen until the dispute is resolved.”Play lottery online with us at Lottery24.com, and you will receive a written notification of your winnings.