Can Someone Take Your Lottery Syndicate Prizes Away? Let’s Explore the Evidence

What if a Lottery Syndicate Member Decides to Take All of the Money?

They say that two heads are better than one and the saying applies to the world of lotteries. This is one of the main reasons why lottery syndicates came into existence, giving players more opportunities to make those easy bucks.

What happens if some of the syndicate members don’t have the most respectable of intentions?

Unfortunately, some people have already found out! While being in a syndicate is such a good thing, you will need to question the motivation of others. A healthy dose of skepticism has never hurt anyone.

Can you win easily on TheLotter? Find out in this TheLotter review

The Man Who Tried to Outsmart the System

Have you ever wondered about what guarantees you have that you’ll collect syndicate prizes? Well, it’s nothing but natural to ponder such issues when other people are also involved in the process. Here’s a story outlining the horrors of being in a syndicate. Meet Gary Baron – the living and breathing proof that the system can be cheated.

The Australian man has been accused of doing what’s every lottery player’s biggest nightmare – running off with the syndicate money – more than 16 million Australian dollars that were supposed to be split between 15 co-workers.

Baron got 20 dollars each week from his colleagues to buy Tattslotto tickets. One lucky day, the group hit the winning combination that was supposed to give the men a combined prize of 16 million dollars. Instead of doing what’s fair in such circumstances, Baron decided to prevent his colleagues from experiencing the burden of being millionaires.

Smart as he is, Baron tried to keep everything low profile. His coworkers became suspicious after a champagne bottle from Tattslotto was delivered to Baron’s workplace. Baron called in sick shortly after the lottery drawing and a couple of days later, he resigned. That’s suspicious behavior right there if you ask us!

Allegedly, since quitting his job, Baron has bought a new house for his son and a modest 200,000-dollar BMW (a convertible one, of course). Following a Supreme Court order, the lottery operator had to reveal the name of the lucky winner. As everyone suspected, it turned out that Baron had done the unthinkable.

A Legal Deal Is Reached

The good news is that the story didn’t end there and justice managed to prevail.

Initially, Baron made it clear that he had whatsoever, no intentions of giving any money to the other lottery syndicate members. He insisted that the 16 million dollars were the result of a separate ticket that he had bought for himself with his own money.

According to Baron’s lawyer, the winning ticket was bought three days before the man bought 10 tickets worth 520 dollars for the syndicate.

It’s not really clear what happened next because the court proceedings weren’t made public. Australian media, however, reported that the syndicate struck a secret deal. The members that benefited from it had to sign a confidentiality agreement, which means that further details aren’t going to become available. It also means that some other syndicate members were left empty-handed.

The moral of the story – be careful about the people with that you decide to start a syndicate. Sooner or later, someone may decide that 16 million dollars sound much better than 1.07 million.

Understand the Dangers of Lottery Syndicates and Protect Yourself

A lottery syndicate gives you a wonderful opportunity to purchase a bigger number of tickets. Needless to say, trusting others, to be honest, can be linked to a vast range of problems.

The Baron case isn’t the only one of a lottery syndicate members trying to cheat others. It has happened between friends and it has also happened between bigger groups of people that have entered an agreement-like arrangement. In February 2014, Christina Shaw won 9.5 million dollars by claiming she bought the winning ticket separately from the ones she bought for her syndicate. Sounds familiar, huh? Once again, the syndicate went to court and a decision is still awaited.

So, what can be done about dishonest individuals?

There are several ways to protect yourself.

Signing a legally-binding lottery syndicate agreement is one of the simplest options for making use of the opportunity without worrying about the consequences. The agreement should outline the number of money members is expected to contribute and the manner in which prizes will be split. An attorney can help draft an agreement that everybody’s going to be protected by.

Online lottery syndicates are another opportunity. In this instance, the online platform is responsible for setting the ticket-buying limits and distributing the prizes among the syndicate members. The agent acts as an intermediary between all of the parties, guaranteeing the fairness of the process.

Greediness is a part of human nature and unfortunately, some people have it much more pronounced than others. Once the money’s involved in the equation, you may find out that you can’t trust people that you used to believe 100 percent in before. So, to protect your friendships and your assets, be careful about the lottery syndicates you join. Signing an agreement may seem like going too far, but believe us; you’re going to thank us for the advice later on!