Costa Rica’s Comptroller Detects Irregularities in Unsold Lottery Handling as JPS Reviews Protocols

The Junta de Protección Social (JPS) from Costa Rica has stated that it is currently analyzing and enhancing its protocols concerning unsold and returned lottery tickets after an audit report by the Contraloría General de la República (CGR).

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According to the audit report, multiple irregularities were discovered concerning lottery ticket management, reports local media. Among others, one of the most notable discoveries involved prize distribution associated with lottery fractions, which were formerly described as unsold and destroyed.

While authorities claimed that this issue did not occur frequently, the Comptroller warned that such situations exposed vulnerabilities in terms of institutional controls and registrations.

“Among other things, the controls applied by the JPS to the unsold lottery process present non-compliance with significant aspects of the applicable regulatory and technical framework. While the physical destruction inside the vault takes place timely, the lack of signatures that support the process of destruction was observed, affecting both consigned and unsold lottery tickets“, the report reads.

Financial Risks Highlighted by Report

Further, the audit document stressed that all the above-mentioned findings combined with weak physical security at regional offices and limited risk management, posed a threat to legal certainties in connection with the destruction process, rendering the administration’s accountability regarding traceability and prevention of improper prize payments.

In terms of possible threats, the document pointed out risks associated with operational integrity, fraud, and financial management.

The Comptroller found issues concerning the formality of destruction reports as well as the lack of adequate management of tickets distributed through consignment mechanisms. The latter included poor security conditions while dealing with lottery ticket leftovers at regional offices, weak counting procedures, problems with electronic scanning of returned tickets, as well as inconsistencies in the controls employed for unsold lottery receipts.

According to the report, all these led to the introduction of numerous recommendations aimed at solving identified shortcomings.

JPS to Enhance Internal Control Procedures

After the publication of the report entitled “DFOE-BIS-IAD-00001-2026“, the JPS responded, stating that all the aforementioned issues were “specific situations” that require protocol changes and improvements.

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Additionally, the institution confirmed that there is a need to develop a formal administrative procedure concerning the cases when prize claims were made for lottery tickets marked as unsold.

The representatives of the JPS highlighted the importance of an external oversight mechanism as a way to “constantly improve the internal control measures” as well as enhance supervisory and traceability procedures within the institution.

“The JPS considers that even an isolated case is an opportunity to constantly improve and analyze protocols and processes from a preventive and continuous improvement perspective“, said the institution.

Revised Procedures to Include New Risk Assessment Tools

As part of the steps taken in response to the recommendations, the JPS declared that some measures have already been taken into consideration.

The institution intends to conduct a detailed risk assessment, optimize IT solutions in order to ensure better traceability and transaction controls, reinforce the supervisory mechanisms employed during lottery returns, and optimize the procedures of internal scanning, validating, and verifying unsold lottery tickets.

Additionally, it was confirmed that the institution is taking measures to formalize a separate administrative procedure for all cases when attempts were made to receive prizes from lottery tickets regarded as unsold.

“In this regard, our goal is to establish a proper traceability of custody process as well as determine possible liabilities in relation to the irregularity identified“, said the JPS.

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Source: SBC Noticias