Blue Dragon halts lottery sales as police crack down on overpricing
The operator of online lottery selling platform “Blue Dragon Lottery” said it will suspend operations from April 2 after its office was raided by police on suspicion of overpricing.
“Customers can still buy lottery tickets for the draw on April 1,” said the company’s president Phatchara Messiahporn on Sunday evening.
He denied any wrongdoing but said he did not know when sales of tickets would resume.
Police raided Blue Dragon’s offices in Nonthaburi and Loei province last Friday (March 25) as part of a crackdown on chronic overpricing of government lottery tickets.
Officers confiscated 1.8 million lottery tickets from the Nonthaburi office and 200,000 tickets from the office in Loei.
Initial investigation showed the company, which has assets of more than 100 million baht, is not eligible for a lottery quota but has amassed large amounts of lottery tickets from existing quota holders and small sellers.
Officials are now investigating the company on suspicion of other crimes including money laundering and illegal gambling.
Phatchara said Blue Dragon customers with receipts could still pick up tickets, whether they had won prizes or not.
“Those who win in the April 1 draw can also use the company’s prize redeeming service without having to visit the Government Lottery Office,” he added.
“We insist that all tickets sold via our online platform are backed by the original tickets issued by the government,” said Phatchara.
“We do not know when we can resume selling online tickets again. From April 2 all Blue Dragon lottery services will be unavailable. However, other services such as sales of amulets, horoscopes, fortune-telling, and our ‘high-tech noodle’ food trucks, will be open as usual."