The lottery doesn't always come with stories of newfound wealth and stories of positivity and good change. There are several scandalous lottery-related stories that have made the headlines over the years. Let's look through just a few.

The Cuban lottery scandal

As far back as 1914, the president of Cuba had to step in when several instances of fraud were discovered among the country's lottery staff contingent. They had been selling fake tickets in the Caribbean and surrounds. The fraudsters were said to make $600,000 per month with their illegal operation.

The Pennsylvanian lottery scandal

In 1980 a television host and lottery supervisor were discovered to have weighted lottery balls in Pennsylvania, US. This enabled only 4s and 6s to turn up in the draw. No wonder one of the jackpot numbers transpired as 6 6 6. TV host Nick Perry and supervisor Edward Plevel were hand fraud charges for their dodgy actions.

The Dominican Republic lottery scandal

In the Dominican Republic, in 1998, investigators discovered that fraudulent insiders had arranged which numbers would be drawn and bet on those. This dodgy undertaking started in the late 1980s and ran for around 10 years. That's a long time to keep going with something so illegal. It took a mistake during a television broadcast of the draw to raise questions about the integrity of the lottery. The administrators were finally found out, but not before they had ostensibly pocketed around $7 million in illegal earnings.

The Italian lottery scandal

In 1999, it was found out that lottery officials in Italy had been bribing the blindfolded children who picked the numbers. People around the country were upset by this sort of corruption - understandably so, because when you check live lottery results you expect honesty and transparency. "Blindfolds were loosened and certain balls covered with a shiny varnish that could be seen beneath the blindfolds. Balls were also heated or frozen so that the children could pick them out by touch. In one case, investigators say, a ball was so hot that a child's hand was burned," reported CNN.

The Canadian lottery scandal

Again in 1999, but this time in Canada, investigators came to notice unusually high numbers of big lottery wins. Almost 250 claims from $50,000 and $12.5 million emerged. An investigation eventually uncovered significant fraud among lottery retailers - as well as their employees and families. They were effectively pinching millions of dollars in fraudulently claimed winnings. A handful of the guilty were handed heavy six-figure fines and had to resign from their jobs.

The Chinese lottery scandal

In 2005, a Chinese lottery ticket seller gained infamy for rigging his gig. Zhoa Liqun realised a loophole in the Welfare Lottery draw that effectively allowed people to buy tickets with the numbers that had just been drawn very shortly after they had been revealed publicly. Liqun himself bought tickets with the numbers within five minutes of them being announced and - surprise, surprise - won. "He asked his neighbours and friends to cash the tickets at the Welfare Lottery Center and to bring back the money," Reuters quoted court sources as saying during Liqun's trial. He had landed almost $4 million for his quick but wrong actions before getting caught. China jailed him for life.