Woman told to shutdown Facebook raffle

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A Wanganui woman who ran a raffle through Facebook has been told to shut it down or risk a $20,000 fine for herself and penalties for anyone who bought a ticket.

A spokesperson from the Department of Internal Affairs said the woman was raising money to pay for her child to attend a school camp and a raffle can not be run for personal gain or profit.

The raffle, advertised through the Facebook page "Items for Sale in Wanganui'' claimed to be giving out prizes worth more than $900, selling tickets for $5 each. It wasn't until after 40 tickets had allegedly been sold and a "winner'' announced, that it was revealed the money was to go toward the camp.

Internal Affairs said anyone who conducted, or participated in raffles like this, which constituted illegal gambling, were liable to fines of up to $20,000 for game holders, and up to $1000 for participants - those who buy raffle tickets, for example.

All raffles have since been removed from the Facebook page at the administrator's request.

"I don't know who has bought it to the internal affairs attention but I got a phone call today telling me that all raffles must go or action would be taken. I am disappointed that the person who done this had no intention of bringing it up to us first, we are all trying to benefit through them for the sake of "affording'' things these days,'' (sic), she wrote.

The matter was brought to the attention of Community Legal Advice Whanganui by someone who was under the impression the organisation had given the raffle-holder incorrect advice.

Spokeswoman Bronwyn Rogers said she looked in to the matter and none of the staff at the agency had spoken to the raffle-holder.

She said she also spoke to principal of the school involved, who was "horrified'' at what had happened, and also told her that the school had not received any of the money.

Ms Rogers said the misconceptions around raffles was concerning, and needed to be addressed.

Internal Affairs warned the woman and explained to her the laws surrounding raffles.

A raffle was a type of lottery and to be legal, must be run by a society, established for purposes other than commercial reasons, to raise money for that society's authorised purpose, the spokesman said.

Under the Gambling Act 2003, that means a charitable, non-commercial purpose beneficial to the community.

Since the funds in this case were solely benefiting the one person and not a section or whole of the community, raising funds in this way was not legal.

A more appropriate way to raise money, would have been if the school was raising funds for all the children attending, he said.

The Internal Affairs spokesman said that to ensure a raffle was legal, people should make sure they were an authorised representative of a society and either consult the department's website, or call 0800 257 887 and ask to speak to a member of the gambling compliance team.