Monday 20 June 2022 07:19 AM Lotto syndicate brawl $63MILLION Powerball win takes toll on newsagent trends now
Newsagency owners embroiled in a $63million Powerball court battle could be forced to shut their store as the 'heart and soul of our family' is almost hospitalised with a serious health condition.
Kevin and Tania Parkes, who own City News Kalgoorlie in regional Western Australia, were ecstatic when their 'pay off your mortgage' syndicate won half the $120million jackpot on February 24.
Each of the 250 participants walked away with $261,986, with the couple taking home double the amount because they bought into the syndicate separately.
But their joy turned to fury when a former government worker, known as Mr Ing, claimed he was part of the winning syndicate and entitled to a stake of the multi million-dollar prize pool - which the Parkes insist is not true.
They will fight Mr Ing for the cash in the Supreme Court on August 2.
As the crunch civil case looms, Mrs Parkes opened up on Saturday about her husband's battle as a leg amputee with high blood pressure.
Tania and Kevin Parkes (pictured with their children after their Powerball numbers were called) run a number of Lotto syndicates from their newsagency in WA
On Sunday, Tania Parkes told her customers about her husband's health battle on social media (pictured)
'Unfortunately, we have been placed under a lot of stress over the last few months with issues we can’t discuss and I need to make Kevin’s health a priority at the moment,' she wrote on her business' Facebook page.
'He has dangerously high blood pressure which is boarding (sic) on hospitalisation but they were able to get under control last night. He is resting up today.'
The couple announced in late-May that they sold their business and planned to hand it over to the new owners in January.
However, Mr Parkes condition could mean they're forced to shut shop significantly earlier than planned.
'It is pushing us to the point of probably having to close our heart and soul our beloved shop for good very very soon,' the mother-of-two continued.
'We will update after a serious sit down over the weekend to see what happens next.'
Mr Ing (pictured) used to work in consumer protection for the Western Australian government
