Lottery Online

Laotian immigrant Cheng Saephan is sharing hundreds of millions of dollars in a lottery game with his friend in Portland, Oregon. Saephan was one of ten winners in the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot prize, which will be paid out over 30 years. He plans to take half the money and give the other to his friend, who helped him buy tickets in the game. The couple is both members of the Iu Mien ethnic group, who fled retribution during the Vietnam war and settled in the United States as part of a refugee rescue program.

But lottery officials in the communist country of Laos are accused of rigging the system, manipulating winning numbers in order to avoid large pay-outs. Drawings often display numbers that are deemed unlucky or unlikely to be chosen, and they disappear from purchased tickets before the drawing takes place. For example, on Oct. 14, the number 509 appeared only as a 5 on tickets bought throughout the day of the drawing, but it reappeared 10 minutes before the drawing was scheduled to begin.

On Aug. 17, the office of Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith sent a directive to the ministry that oversees the state lottery, asking it to reduce the frequency of drawings and handle winnings more transparently. But deputy finance minister and state lottery supervisor Sila Viengkeo told RFA that the directive was not yet in effect, adding that the government will continue to allow business interests to manage the lottery.