Lao lottery officials are rigging the system, manipulating drawings and changing winning numbers to avoid paying out large sums of money, sources in the communist nation tell RFA. Private business interests are responsible for the state lottery’s work, and their employees include relatives of the country’s top leaders. One source told RFA that a number that appeared on tickets purchased throughout the day of an Oct. 14 drawing — 509 — mysteriously changed to 662 shortly before the lottery was scheduled to be announced. On Aug. 17, the prime minister’s office sent a directive requesting that the state lottery system be managed more transparently.