The school teacher and lottery vendor arrested in the 30-million-baht prize case in Kanchanaburi denied all charges on Thursday and applied for police bail, which a source said was likely to be denied.
Teacher Preecha Kraikhruan, 50; and ticket vendor Ratanaporn Supatip, 58, were interrogated at the Crime Suppression Division in the presence of their lawyer for more than five hours after being arrested on Wednesday.
They have been charged with reporting a false crime, giving false information to police and framing another person in a criminal case.
After intense interrogation, both denied all charges, their lawyer Kriangkrai Nakwalee said on Thursday.
He applied for their release on bail. Mr Preecha’s teaching position was offered as surety for his release, while 75,000 baht in cash was offered as a surety for Ms Ratanaporn.
They were awaiting the CSD's decision, Mr Kriangkrai said late on Thursday morning. If police denied bail, he would apply again for bail when they appeared in the Criminal Court on Friday.
He said there were 10 witnesses who would support his client's case.
CSD deputy commander Pol Col Suwat Saengnum said investigators would continue questioning Mr Preecha and Ms Ratanaporn on Thursday.
They would be taken to court on Friday for approval for their first period of detention to allow further investigation.
He did not know whether their lawyer would submit additional evidence or not.
A source said police bail was likely to be denied. Investigators would also oppose court bail for fear the suspects might interfere with evidence.
Mr Preecha and a retired policeman, Pol Lt Jaroon Wimol, 62, have been deadlocked for several months over their conflicting claim to a 30-million-baht lottery first prize. Each insists he is the rightful owner of the set of five lottery tickets with the No.533726 that won a first prize in the Nov 1 draw last year.
Mr Preecha filed a lawsuit against Pol Lt Jaroon, accusing him of embezzlement and receiving stolen property, while Pol Lt Jaroon is suing Mr Preecha for falsely reporting a crime.
Mr Kriangkrai admitted that in the time he has been retained by Mr Preecha he has never seen the video clip his client claims to have of the retired police officer picking the five winning tickets up off the ground. Mr Preecha claims he bought and later unwittingly dropped the tickets.
When they emerged from the CSD interrogation room, Mr Preecha and Ms Ratanaporn looked calm and showed no sign of being stressed.
CSD police arrested Mr Preecha at his school in Kanchanaburi and took him to Bangkok for questioning on Wednesday. Ms Ratnaporn was apprehended on the same day.
A source said the team of CSD officers who searched Ms Ratanaporn's house in Kanchanaburi on Wednesday found evidence relating to the case. It was piece of paper with a handwritten message stating: “This set of lottery tickets I got from Jae Pat and later sold to teacher Preecha, who is the real owner of the tickets.’’ (continues below)
During a news conference on Wednesday, national police chief Chakthip Chaijinda said the CSD investigation had nothing to do with the civil dispute between Mr Preecha and Pol Lt Jaroon.
Pol Gen Chakthip refused to confirm whether the retired police officer was the owner of the jackpot-winning tickets, saying the matter would be decided in court. However, the CSD probe found that the teacher’s account and other witnesses’ version of events did not match forensic and other scientific evidence.
According to CSD investigators, Mr Preecha claims to have lost the lottery tickets in late October last year, but he informed police of the loss only on Nov 2, when he already knew the result of the previous day's draw.
Mr Preecha accused Pol Lt Jaroon of picking up the tickets after he dropped them. The retired police officer insisted the tickets belonged to him, and said he had already spent some of the money after crashing in the tickets.
The remainder of the cash prize, about 25 million baht, was frozen pending a final decision on ownership of the tickets.
The case was originally handled by Provincial Police Region 7, which oversees Kanchanaburi and other western provinces. The investigation found in favour of Mr Preecha, that he was the real owner of the tickets, based on the testimony of witnesses, said to number over 40 people.
The national police chief on Feb 5 ordered the regional police to transfer the case to the CSD after the local police findings drew loud public scepticism.
Shortly after, the Kanchanaburi police chief and two senior police investigators handling the lottery case were moved to inactive posts in Bangkok to prevent any interference in the case.
The transfers were ordered after one of four Kanchanaburi investigators told CSD investigators who took over the case that he had been ordered verbally by his superior to alter the investigation report several times to give more weight to the teacher’s claim that he bought the winning tickets and lost them.
