Lottery officials in Laos are rigging the system, manipulating winning numbers to avoid large pay-outs, sources in the communist country tell RFA. Drawings often show numbers that vanish from purchased tickets or are deemed unlucky and unlikely to win, they say. For example, the number 509 appeared only as 134 on tickets sold throughout the day of Oct. 14’s drawing, but then mysteriously changed to 662 shortly before the drawing was held, a source told RFA on condition of anonymity. The lottery concession is awarded to private business interests, including those with ties to the ruling elite, he added.

A foreign investor from Malaysia – Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) and its subsidiaries Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd (BToto) – operates the state lottery. The company, called Vietlott, was established with $500 million in capital and earned VND305 billion from its operations over the first eight months of this year, including a record VND49 billion from the Mega 6/45 lottery.

The office of Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith sent a directive on Aug. 17 asking the Ministry of Finance, which oversees the legal state lottery, to work with authorities to improve transparency in the system, sources told RFA’s Lao Service. Among other things, it stipulates that the number of state lottery drawings will be reduced from two to one per week and that winners’ names are handled in a more transparent manner.