WANG SUYING, former head of the China Welfare Lottery Distribution and Management Center of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, was placed under investigation for severe disciplinary violations, according to an announcement Wednesday.

Wang, 57, was investigated by the disciplinary inspection department and the supervisory commission for “serious violations of the Party discipline”, according to anti-graft inspectors.

From 2008 to 2017, she mainly served as deputy director of the social welfare and charity promotion department under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Party secretary of the ministry’s social welfare center and head of the lottery management center.

In recent years, cases involving the abuse and embezzlement of lottery funds have frequently occurred due to loopholes in management and supervision that have attracted the attention of the public and media.

“Although lottery funds are collected from the public, only the government is eligible to use them, and supervision is lax,” said Li Wei, a lawyer from the Beijing Lawyers Association. “If it’s not transparent and people don’t know how the money is spent, then it’s easy to have corruption.”

According to the National Audit office, auditors last year found more than 20 percent of the total lottery funds had been misused, including for buying or building properties or providing subsidies to government employees. (China Daily)