Chinese Man Hacks Lottery System, Gets Life in Prison

Nov 8, 2007, 2:36 pm (29 comments)

International

Note to self: Next visit to China, don't try rigging the lottery.

A Chinese lottery ticket seller has been jailed for life for fraud for taking advantage of a system flaw to cash 28 million yuan ($3.76 million) in tickets illegally, state media said Tuesday.

Zhao Liqun discovered the flaw in the Welfare Lottery "3D" system in 2005 that let a person buy tickets with the right numbers within five minutes of their being announced, sources at the Intermediate People's Court in Anshan, northeastern Heilongjiang province, said.

Zhao, 36, who ran three lottery stalls in Anshan, "bought" the announced numbers many times over.

"He asked his neighbors and friends to cash the tickets at the Welfare Lottery Center and to bring back the money," Xinhua quoted the court sources as saying.

The lottery center found the prizes were illegally claimed and police arrested Zhao in January.

The court jailed him for life for fraud and confiscated all his property.

No word on whether or not his neighbors and friends were arrested as accomplices, but we're betting dollars to yuan they're not getting off scott free.

China man.

Reuters

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RJOh's avatarRJOh

He was lucky, I thought the penalty for fraud in China was death.

Guest

Quote: Originally posted by RJOh on Nov 8, 2007

He was lucky, I thought the penalty for fraud in China was death.

He will probably end up committing suicide.The Chinese believe that if you dishonor yourself you are supposed to kill yourself.

truecritic's avatartruecritic

QUICK!  Somebody get Bond, James Bond.  We have a misson for him.  He has to go to China and bring that guy here to fight our corrupt computerized lottery czars and get me a lot of cash!

 

 (Before anyone goes into shock, just a joke)

Shocked

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

I'm surprised there would be such a flaw.  I know that I get locked out of the games in FL about 15 or 30 minutes before the actual drawing because, if I go to a terminal during that short period, the tickets will print for the next draw.  

(those people in the photo look awfully cold!)   

time*treat's avatartime*treat

You gotta have brass cajones to do this kind of thing in China.

DeadThey check soon-to-be-dead prisoners for usable parts.

He shoulda quit at $3 mil. Clown 

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by on Nov 8, 2007

He will probably end up committing suicide.The Chinese believe that if you dishonor yourself you are supposed to kill yourself.

Actually, I think that's a Japanese thing, not Chinese.

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by time*treat on Nov 8, 2007

You gotta have brass cajones to do this kind of thing in China.

DeadThey check soon-to-be-dead prisoners for usable parts.

He shoulda quit at $3 mil. Clown 

I agree!  That guy coulda been on easy street for life, if not for tremendous greed.

JackpotWanna's avatarJackpotWanna

He got too greedy.  3 millions is alot of money in china.  Its like winning 20 million in the states.  I hope they also get his friends that helped him.

Guest

Quote: Originally posted by Todd on Nov 8, 2007

Actually, I think that's a Japanese thing, not Chinese.

No,its Chinese.The Chinese minister of food committed suicide because he wasn't doing a good job.He let a lot of bad food get shipped out of country.Or so I read somewhere,recently.

time*treat's avatartime*treat

Quote: Originally posted by on Nov 8, 2007

No,its Chinese.The Chinese minister of food committed suicide because he wasn't doing a good job.He let a lot of bad food get shipped out of country.Or so I read somewhere,recently.

Zheng Xiaoyu (former head of the State Food and Drug Administration) was sentenced to death in May (2007) for taking bribes to approve an antibiotic blamed for at least 10 deaths and other substandard medicines. He was executed in July.

Guest

Quote: Originally posted by time*treat on Nov 8, 2007

Zheng Xiaoyu (former head of the State Food and Drug Administration) was sentenced to death in May (2007) for taking bribes to approve an antibiotic blamed for at least 10 deaths and other substandard medicines. He was executed in July.

Well,either way he's dead and can't poison anyone else.

time*treat's avatartime*treat

Quote: Originally posted by on Nov 8, 2007

Well,either way he's dead and can't poison anyone else.

Green laughOh, that is just so wrong.

Guest

Quote: Originally posted by time*treat on Nov 8, 2007

Green laughOh, that is just so wrong.

I'm a FIRM believer in the death penalty.If a person takes a bribe to turn a blind eye that results in ten deaths,then the buck stops with him.If Chinese law says he must die for his crime,I concur.

SmoothJuice

Quote: Originally posted by RJOh on Nov 8, 2007

He was lucky, I thought the penalty for fraud in China was death.

I would picked Death Penalty rather than life in Jail.   I heard Chinese prison were 10 times worse than American jails.

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