A retired courier driver from Geelong has been accused of ripping off 14 former colleagues, who claim they were part of a lottery syndicate that won $16.6 million in a Powerball draw last October, but never received a cent.

Fairfax Media revealed exclusively on Sunday that the furious syndicate members are about to take Supreme Court action against their former friend, Gary Baron, 49, who collected $20 each week from his co-workers and entered the draw via an online Tatts Group account.

The 16-person syndicate are understood to live in Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula and met while working as couriers for logistics company Toll Group.

The day after three winning entries shared a first-division pool of $50 million on October 16, Mr Baron is understood to have called in sick and took the day off work. The following Monday, he suddenly resigned.

In an extraordinary twist, a syndicate member and Toll Group courier was hired by Tatts Group to deliver champagne to Mr Baron shortly after the lottery win.

Mr Baron suddenly distanced himself from most of his colleagues in the syndicate, aside from one woman whom he is now romantically involved with. The woman has also resigned from Toll Group and is not party to the legal proceedings about to be initiated by the 14 other syndicate members.

Since the massive windfall, the former courier has allegedly purchased a $200,000 convertible BMW M4 and a double-storey house in the Geelong suburb of Lara. His son, in his early twenties, has also purchased a new home in Lara, where a luxury in-ground pool was recently installed.

The disgruntled syndicate will allege in court they were one of three winning groups to collect 16,666,666.67 in the $50 million jackpot, and each member is entitled to more than $1 million. They will claim their former friend and colleague reneged on a deal to share the winnings.

Mr Baron declined to comment when contacted yesterday, but is expected to claim he purchased the winning 50-game ticket independently of the syndicate.

"I can't say anything to anybody, don't ask me any more questions," Mr Baron said.

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

"I'm still in disbelief...I don't need that amount of money, it's too much for me!" he told a Tatts official.

"I'm going to share the prize money with my family. I'll make sure it doesn't change who I am, but I'll definitely be able to live a better lifestyle, with a few more toys," the anonymous winner said.