No foul play in Bulgarian lottery draw repetition

This story was published more than 14 years ago.

A probe into a duplication within days of the same Bulgarian lottery winning numbers has delivered its verdict in record time, reporting that the duplication was merely a coincidence and there is nothing to indicate foul play or inefficiency.

Sport Minister Svilen Neikov ordered the probe last Wednesday after the numbers 4, 15, 23, 24, 35 and 42 were selected by a machine - in a different order - on consecutive draws televised live on September 6 and September 10, reports Associated Press.

The commission appointed by Neikov's ministry to investigate said Thursday it found no evidence of fraud or manipulation.

Lottery officials called the repeat draws a freak coincidence - the odds are 1 in 4 million, according to mathematicians - and insisted it was impossible to tamper with the lottery machine.

No one won the September 6 draw, but 18 people guessed correctly in the Sept. 10 contest and each received 10,164 leva (€5,150) in prize money.

Source: InfoPowa News