Lottery officials in Laos are rigging the system, manipulating results to avoid paying out large sums of money to winners, sources tell RFA’s Lao Service. Drawings often show numbers that vanish from purchased tickets before the winning number is announced. In one case on Oct. 14 this year, the lottery notified customers that the winning number was 134, but when the drawing took place, the numbers had magically changed to 662, a source told RFA. Private business interests that run the state lottery pay an annual fee to government leaders but are otherwise unaccountable, sources say.

RFA’s Ounkeo Souksavanh and Bounchanh Mouangkham contributed to this report. Editing by Lillian Andemicael. Photo by RFA’s Laos Office. Reported and translated by Ounkeo Souksavanh. Written by Richard Finney.