Lottery companies in various provinces have exploited the state budget to illegally increase wages or organise overseas trips.

Tien Giang Lottery Company

According to Resolution 51 issued in 2013, the director's salary is about VND27m (USD1,200), with head accountant's earning from VND16m to VND21m a month.

According to the government inspectors, between 2013 and 2014, the lottery company in Tien Giang Province did not publicise many information as regulated including the number of managers or monthly salaries paid and the average monthly wage of four managers reached VND60.8m per person.

It also discovered that the company wrongly transferred VND60bn from the company's development fund to the provincial development fund.

However, punishment has been weak. The inspectors ordered the company to pay VND98.8bn to the state budget and asked former chairman of Tien Giang Province, Nguyen Van Khang to admit to his involvement in the scam.

Other examples of corruption were discovered but have not been punished. Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, director of Bac Lieu Province Lottery Company, was paid VND92m in October 2013 and VND73m the next month.

Meanwhile, Hau Giang Province Lottery Company spent over VND7.5bn from 2010 to early 2013 on non-essential issues. The company gave the Can Tho Printing Company a VND33bn loan to earn interest of 8%. Hundreds of billions were deposited with the banks but it's unclear how the interest was spent.

The lottery company in Binh Phuoc Province sent 54 employees to Singapore and Malaysia to supposedly study their experiences in 2014. Last year, they also planned to provide their employees with VND1.5bn for a trip to Canada. After being criticised, the trip was cancelled because the employees were "unable to get the visas on time."

Le Dang Doanh, former head of the Central Institute for Economic Management, said, "The audit results at these companies must be publicised and punishments must be stricter."