Longtime buddies Ho Thanh Tam and To Van Minh, both from Tan Thanh Tay commune, Cu Chi district in HCM City, often met and chatted.

At 11:30 am on December 30, 2017, they attended a village temple ceremony in The hamlet. Joining them at the table was Lu Dac.

As they were about to leave, a lottery seller approached. Dac picked four tickets, bought two, then turned to Minh with the remaining pair: “These look good, take them.”

Dac then bought those two tickets as a gift for Tam, but Tam handed them to Minh, saying, “Hold these—tell me if they win this afternoon.”

Minh pocketed the tickets and left. That evening, after learning they hit the jackpot, Dac and Tam rushed to Minh’s house, but Minh claimed they didn’t win.

After repeated failed demands for the tickets, Tam decided to sue Minh. Minh insisted the tickets weren’t winners and refused to pay the money as demanded.

In the initial trial, Cu Chi District People’s Court partly upheld Tam’s claim, ordering Minh to pay Tam VND1.8 billion—the value of one jackpot ticket.

After the trial, both appealed, but at the appellate hearing, Tam withdrew his appeal.

In another case, Nguyen Hoang Tuan and Lam Van Vui from Gia Rai town in Bac Lieu province also ended up in court over a lottery ticket.

In October 2015, while drinking with friends, a lottery seller came by. Tuan bought five tickets and asked Vui to hold them.

The next day, Vui gave Tuan VND200 million as “thanks,” revealing two of the five tickets had won the jackpot.

Believing the winning tickets were his since Vui was just holding them, Tuan took the money but filed a police complaint.

Questioned by police, Vui claimed he bought the winning tickets with his own cash, saying he’d given Tuan VND500,000 for snacks and Tuan used the change for the tickets.

After an investigation, Bac Lieu Provincial Police confirmed Tuan bought the five tickets and gave them to Vui to hold.

Yet, in June 2016, Gia Rai Town People’s Court ruled the two tickets belonged to Vui. Tuan appealed, and the appellate court ordered Vui to pay Tuan VND1.15 billion.

In Tan Thanh district in Long An, a man sued his own daughter to reclaim the winnings.

In 2016, D won four tickets worth VND4.5 billion in total.

When his son-in-law learned of the win, he offered to collect the prize for D. Trusting him, D handed over all four tickets. The son-in-law then gave them to his wife, H, who, together with her sister, S, came to get money the next day.

But the daughters just bought a small house for their father, while keeping the remaining money.

Tan Thanh District People’s Court ordered S to return VND1 billion to her father.

Thanh Phuong