A person in Ho Chi Minh City has probably become the second to win the jackpot, worth nearly VND65 billion (US$2.9 million), of a computerized lottery run by a joint venture between Vietnam and Malaysia.

Vietlott said Thursday that the winning ticket was sold in District 8, Ho Chi Minh City.

The person in question bought the ticket on Tuesday, Vietlott said. The jackpot was then VND64.8 billion.  

A Vietlott agent said the winner may come from Ho Chi Minh City. However, the firm said, nobody has ever contacted it to claim the grand prize as of now.

Vietnamese laws dictate that a lottery winner pay a 10 percent income tax before receiving the jackpot.

Last month, a farmer in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh became the first winner of the jackpot, worth more than VND92 billion ($4.11 million), reduced to VND83 billion ($3.71 million) after a 10 percent personal income tax deduction.

The computerized lottery ‘Mega 6/45’ was introduced in July as a result of cooperation between Vietnam’s state-run lottery company Vietlott and an indirect subsidiary of Malaysia-based firm Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp), which was granted an 18-year investment license to operate the computerized lottery in the country in January.

As the name suggests, buyers of the lottery may select a six-number combination, at the price of VND10,000 ($0.45) each, from a pool of whole numbers between 1 and 45.

The jackpot combination is randomly selected every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday at 6:00 pm, and rolled over into the next lottery period should no winner emerge.

Apart from the jackpot, bonus prizes of up to VND10 million ($446) are awarded to those with three, four, or five numbers matching the jackpot combination.

The jackpot value has now been reset to the initial prize of VND12 billion ($537,600).