Facebook

Gary Baron won a A$16.6 million jackpot in October 2014.

A fierce battle in Australia over a $17.2 million Powerball jackpot has ended, with the supposed winner settling with syndicate members, his former friends, ahead of a Supreme Court trial.

The shock announcement in appears to have ended a bitter two-year feud between 20 courier drivers for Toll Group, who accused former colleague Gary Baron, 51, of duping them out of the massive windfall from a Powerball draw in October 2014.

The trial  was abandoned on Wednesday after the members of the Australian lottery syndicate reached an undisclosed financial settlement with the man they accused of cheating them out of a A$16.6 million (NZ$17.2m) jackpot.

Baron had denied swindling his former co-workers, who had, since 2009, given him A$20 each week to buy lottery tickets on a regular basis.

READ MORE:
* How to run a Lotto syndicate - safely
* $58m shared between 21 co-workers
* Woman got winning numbers from 1989 dream
* Lotto: Those who won, and watched it all disappear 
* Lotto and Powerball most frequent numbers drawn
* Behind-the-scenes look at Lotto's exclusive winners' room 

Baron had claimed he bought the winning ticket using A$46.60 of his own money and then three days later spent A$520 on tickets on behalf of the syndicate.

In his opening address on Wednesday morning, Andrew Panna, QC, representing the disgruntled syndicate, told the court Baron had opened an online Tatts Group account in late 2013 and had made no attempt to separate his funds from those of the syndicate members.

Panna then detailed how Baron had called in sick on the day after winning the draw and suddenly resigned from his job citing a serious heart condition.

In an extraordinary twist, Tatts Group employed a Toll Group courier to deliver a bottle of champagne to Baron a week after the win, which further aroused suspicion among his former colleagues. 

The court was told Baron had repeatedly refused to explain his newfound wealth when former workmates discovered he had bought a A$200,000 convertible BMW M4 and a double-storey house in Lara.

It was not until May 2015 that he conceded that he was one of three winning groups to collect A$16,666,666.67 in the A$50 million jackpot.

The trial had been expected to be a test case for Lotto syndicates, determining whether it constituted a partnership agreement or joint venture, which imposed a fiduciary duty on Baron.

After the lunch interval on Wednesday, Panna told the court that the matter would be settled, which is expected to be approved by the court on Thursday morning.

The syndicate members are believed to have previously been offered A$4000 each by Baron's lawyers before the trial if they agreed to waive all legal rights and sign confidentiality agreements.

Baron did not make any comment to media as he left court.

The day after the Powerball draw in October 2014, Tatts Group released a statement from the three winners, including one anonymous response believed to be from Baron.

"I'm going to share the prize money with my family," he told the Tatts official. 

"I'll make sure it doesn't change who I am, but I'll definitely be able to live a better lifestyle."

 - Brisbane Times