Despite having completed the procedure to claim her lottery money, a woman in central Vietnam has been denied her luck after losing the winning tickets in a burglary.

Nguyen Thi Hoa, a resident in Ngu Hanh Son District, Da Nang City, bought two lottery tickets issued by Quang Nam Province on September 22, 2015.

Upon realizing that her tickets had won the bonus prize money of VND100 million (US$4,465) each, Hoa came to the representative office of Quang Nam Province Lottery Company in Da Nang on September 29 to claim the prize.

After going through the verification process, Hoa was told to take the tickets home and come back the next day to receive the money since there was not enough cash available at the time.

Unfortunately for Hoa, the wallet in which she put her winning tickets was stolen the same day.

Who’s at fault?

Speaking with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Nguyen Thi Thu Suong, director at Quang Nam Province Lottery Company, said Hoa was responsible for the loss of her winning tickets.

Suong added that according to Vietnamese law, the winning tickets must remain intact for them to be valid, and therefore she said Hoa was not eligible to claim the prize money.

Not satisfied with the excuse she got for being denied the money, Hoa filed a lawsuit against the lottery company to the People’s Court of Thanh Khe District in Da Nang City.

The court ruled last Thursday that the lottery company was to pay Hoa half the total prize money, explaining that both parties were at fault in the case.

Not content with that ruling either, Hoa is planning to file an appeal against it, saying the burglary was a force majeure that was not hers to control and therefore must not be considered her fault.

Huynh Ngoc Hung, chairman of the Council of Members at Da Nang Lottery Company, said that the employee at the representative office in charge of handling Hoa’s case was not following procedures by allowing Hoa to take the winning tickets home.

“According to current regulations, the company is to keep the tickets after completing all relevant verification, instead of letting the customer take them home,” Hung explained.

Meanwhile, lawyer Truong Xuan Tam said the lottery company was responsible for paying Hoa the prize money since she had met all the requirements on September 29, when she came to the representative office, adding that it was the office’s fault for not having enough cash available for payment.

Tam said, however, that there should be an official court ruling to create a safe legal ground for the lottery company to pay Hoa, as Vietnamese law regulates that winning tickets be kept as documented proof that the transaction took place.

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