A BITTER legal dispute has erupted between a couple who ran a winning lottery syndicate and a man trying to claim a slice of the cash.
The lottery syndicate, run by newsagency owners Tania and Kevin Parkes, scooped a whopping £36million in the Australian draw.
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Everybody in the syndicate was asked to provide proof of their ticket to get their winnings, but when Mark Ing arrived, the couple had no record of him taking part.
He insisted he had a ticket for the draw and tried to claim £150,000.
But the Parkes – who run multiple syndicates for different Lotto prize pools – said he had bought a ticket in another syndicate and was not entitled to the cash.
The couple, from Western Australia, are now fighting Mr Ing in court to stop him claiming part of the winnings.
The “pay off your mortgage” syndicate offered people the chance to win big for the relatively low price of just £57 each.
On February 24, Parkes and the 248 others who entered #2 Syndicate found out they had won £150,000 each – half the total £69million Powerball jackpot.
Mr Ing then turned up at a Lotterywest office claiming he was part of the winning syndicate – which the Parkes alleged was not true.
According to documents reportedly filed in the Supreme Court in April, Mr Ing was able to make a claim for the cash – as long as he provided proof he had taken part in the winning syndicate.
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But the Parkes said they looked at their records and saw Mr Ing had bought into the unsuccessful #1 Syndicate – meaning he was not entitled to the winnings, Perth Now reports.
The couple asked Mr Ing to tell Lotterywest he was not part of the winning team – but he allegedly maintained his claim.
Lotterywest paid the cash out to the winning syndicate on March 11 – but Mr Ing was not paid.
But on April 14 – even though there was a formal dispute over the winnings – officials at Lotterywest told the Parkes they were going to pay Mr Ing.
However the payout was blocked by the Supreme Court in Australia.
The Parkes have filed legal proceedings against both Mr Ing and Lotterywest – claiming Mr Ing made “untrue” representations to the company.
Lotterywest said the disputed prize had not been paid in accordance with orders from the Supreme Court.
The civil case will be heard at court on August 2.
