Syndicate winnings frozen

Belonging to a lottery syndicate is supposed to be a great way to increase your chances of winning a jackpot. For an equal contribution, you can buy many more entries to a lottery than you could on your own. But many syndicates work on a very informal basis, trusting one person to buy the ticket and share the winnings, however large or small. Problems can arise when a person does not make a contribution one week, but says they’ll owe, and then the syndicate wins!

But in Spain a Euro 6 million win has been claimed by one person, Antonio Lloreda Capillo, but his 19 workmates say he was in a syndicate and he should share the win. A judge in Barcelona has the difficult job of deciding, but meanwhile the money cannot be spent. The group of workers from the Sintermetal group did not have a written agreement, something that is recommended, even if there are just two of you sharing a ticket. But sorting out problems is never quick; this dispute has been going on for three years!

Similarly, a $319 million win in November 2005 in Santa Ana, USA is under dispute. The win was claimed by seven workers from the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, nicknamed the “Lucky 7”, and they each received $20.2 million. But then four other workers said they had an informal “oral” agreement to be part of the pool (as a syndicate is known in the US) and they have started their lawsuits to reclaim some money. But legal actions take time and the court hearing is scheduled for April 2007.

- 06/06/06