Police investigators say there are sufficient grounds to prosecute a former Kanchanaburi police chief for dereliction of duty for his handling of a dispute over a 30-million-baht lottery prize.
The police Counter-Corruption Division (CCD) on Friday submitted a 798-page report of its investigation into Pol Maj Gen Suthi Puangpikul to the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
CCD commander Kamol Rienracha said investigators found there was sufficient evidence showing that Pol Maj Gen Suthi had ordered changes made to witness statements to support a teacher’s claim to ownership of the winning tickets.
Such actions would represent a violation of Section 157 of the Criminal Code, as he had not performed his duty properly in the investigation into the dispute.
Under Pol Maj Gen Suthi’s supervision, changes were made repeatedly to dates, places and witnesses’ answers in an interrogation report, to support teacher Preecha Kraikruan’s claim that he owned a set of five first-prize-winning lottery tickets.
Pol Maj Gen Suthi earlier told investigators that he had police witnesses who would testify in his favour. However, he did not bring them to testify, said Pol Maj Gen Kamol.
Two police investigators from Kanchanaburi involved in making changes to the interrogation report were treated as CCD witnesses, said Pol Maj Gen Kamol.
The investigation team obtained scientific analysis of phone conservations of those involved in the lottery dispute, wjich showed that changes were made to the interrogation report handled by the Kanchanaburi police investigators.
The phone conservations took place between Mr Preecha and a police investigator handling the case; between Mr Preecha and Pol Maj Gen Suthi; and between Mr Preecha and two lottery vendors: Ratanaporn Supathip and Patcharida Promta, Thai media reported.
The teacher and the two vendors are also accused of supporting Pol Maj Gen Suthi in his alleged dereliction of duty, said Pol Maj Gen Kamol.
The evidence obtained by the CCD was sufficient to indict Pol Maj Gen Suthi, he said.
The former Kanchanaburi police chief will be allowed to submit additional evidence to the NACC in his defence.
The lottery dispute came to light when Mr Preecha, 50, claimed in December that he had purchased the tickets with the number 533726 that won the first prize in the Nov 1 draw last year. He filed a complaint against retired Pol Lt Jaroon Wimool, 62, who had cashed in the tickets.
The teacher accused the retired officer of picking up the tickets after he dropped them before the results of the draw were announced.
Pol Lt Jaroon insisted the tickets belonged to him, and said he had already spent some of the money and refused to hand over any of it. The cash prize from the Nov 1 draw was later frozen pending a conclusion of the investigation.
The case was originally handled by Provincial Police Region 7, which oversees Kanchanaburi and other western provinces.
That investigation concluded Mr Preecha was the real owner of the tickets, based on the testimony of witnesses. The national police chief in February ordered the case transferred to the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok after Pol Lt Jaroon filed a complaint in thhe capital. He accused Mr Preecha of filing false information.
The case led to the transfer of the Kanchanaburi provincial chief and two other police investigators to Bangkok.
On Feb 28, Mr Preecha and Mrs Ratanaporn were arrested in Kanchanaburi on charges of filing false information with police. They are currently free on bail.
The pair last week petitioned the Justice Ministry for what they claimed was unfair treatment from the Crime Supression Division. They called for the Department of Special Investigation to take over the case.
