Ex-lottery chief finally lucky in third hearing

A FORMER top lottery official in south China has been cleared from the guilt of negligence of duties in a lottery scandal after a local court announced him innocent in the final verdict.

Mai Liang, former dean of Guangdong Province Sports Lottery Management Center, was released on Thursday, Guangzhou Daily reported yesterday.

Mai was first sentenced to 3 1/2 years in jail last year for negligence after an owner of a lottery sales point was convicted of cheating nearly 30 million yuan (US$4.39 million) from the lottery fund.

The owner, Zhang Minhao, and a lottery official whom Zhang bribed, He Yuejian, were jailed in 2007.

Mai, as the then center dean, was jailed a year later.

But Mai insisted upon his innocence. In a second hearing, he was again judged guilty but spared jail time, according to the report.

Still unsatisfied, Mai appealed for a third hearing -- the final one allowed under Chinese laws.

This time, Mai was finally cleared. The judge said the evidence showed that Mai was unaware of the fraud.

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