The owner of a winning ticket that was ripped in half has received the prize of VND100 million (US$4,800) after nearly three months of being told no by the lottery company. Meanwhile, another similar claim has recently appeared.

>> The unrecognized lottery winner After refusing three times, the Kien Giang Lottery Company has finally paid US$4,800 to Duong Van Tung, the holder of a winning lottery ticket that was ripped in half. The payment was made yesterday, April 29, at the company’s office in southern Kien Giang province. After paying a 10 percent VAT, Tung happily received VND91 million in cash. He said he would use about VND50 million to pay his debts for home repairs. The remaining amount will be kept as savings, Tung told Tuoi Tre, which has published tens of articles about his case. Through the newspaper, he wanted to send his sincere thanks to all of the individuals and agencies that supported him in his struggle to claim the payment from the lottery company. As reported previously, Tung, a poor laborer in his 50s, was very excited to learn on February 3 that he had won the huge prize from the lottery ticket. The good news was spread and his relatives and neighbors crowded into his home to see the ticket. One of them was L.M.K, Tung’s nephew, who, in his excitement, pulled the ticket too hard, ripping it into two pieces. As a result, the lottery company refused to pay the prize out although it confirmed that the ticket was real. After refusing three times, the company’s director told Tung that if the Finance Ministry agreed to the payment, the company would pay the prize to him. The ministry later asked the company to award Tung the prize. According to the ministry, the ticket was unintentionally torn, but it was still clear enough to read. Yesterday, before paying Tung, the company’s staff checked the ticket once again with their equipment to make sure that the ticket was real.Similar claim A similar case has since happened to Nguyen Van Thua in Hong Dan District in southern Bac Lieu province. He has contacted Tuoi Tre for help. Thua bought ticket number 174301 issued by the An Giang Lottery Company on September 27, 2012. This was the winning ticket for a prize of VND100 million. He happened to be outside during a rain storm which left the ticket wet and torn in one corner. He dried the ticket and then brought it to the company to get the prize but was turned away. The company staff said that the ticket was torn in “a banned area” (the right edge of the ticket) so the company could not pay the prize. Thua said he has since kept the ticket as a sad memory, but recently, after learning that Tung was claiming the prize in a similar case, he decided to ask Tuoi Tre for assistance in claiming the prize. In talking with Tuoi Tre about this case, Le Thi Can, head of the Payment Department of the company, said the company has already issued two documents to Thua to explain why he could not paid. “Based on Circular 65 of the Financial Ministry and the company’s relevant regulations, we cannot pay the prize.” Can said. Yesterday morning, Tuoi Tre contacted To Thien Huu, director of the company, asking him whether they would re-examine Thua’s case. Huu said that “the company has replied to Thua about his case and will not make a re-consideration.” The ticket was torn in a “banned area”, so the company could not pay the prize, Huu explained.