Serbia lottery chief resigns in live ticket draw scandal

Many Serbs, including pensioners and the jobless for whom the lottery is their one hope of prosperity, watched aghast as the fourth of five balls drawn by the automatic lottery machine came out as 27, but appeared on the TV graphic as 21.

Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said that police have already questioned six people to see whether there was any evidence of fraud.

The State Lottery has denied that there was any wrongdoing and the incident during Tuesday’s broadcast was a simple mistake.

And Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic added: “If there were any elements of a criminal act in the draw of numbers in the lottery late on Tuesday, all responsible individuals will suffer the consequences for this”.

The presenter was visibly uncomfortable as the remainder of the numbers were drawn, and the graphics displaying the numbers were repeatedly turned on and off.

“Now it was a coincidence, I say, under some laws of probability, there was the possibility that the ball 21 would be drawn, and it was”.

A police investigation is underway, and lottery employees are being interviewed in an attempt to get to the bottom of this freakish occurrence. The corporate head, Aleksandar Vulovic, stated Thursday that he was stepping down out of “ethical obligation”.

But the state lottery said it was simply a mistake by the person who filled out the television graphic and it was “pure coincidence” that the next ball said 21.

The incident has led to the resignation of the Head of Serbia National lottery.

The lottery could be very fashionable in Serbia, a Balkan nation with a poor financial system and widespread corruption.

Police have seized the lottery machine, balls and computer software as part of the their investigation, according to local media reports.