Teacher, lottery vendors charged with abetting police officer’s malfeasance
A teacher and two lottery vendors involved in the Bt30-million lottery scandal yesterday met police and were charged with abetting a police officer who tampered with evidence.
Preecha Kraikruan, a teacher in Kanchaburi’s Muang district, and two lottery vendors, Rattanaporn Supathip and Patcharida Promta, met Counter-Corruption Division chief Pol Maj-General Kamol Rienracha before being separated for questioning.
The three were then charged with supporting former Kanchanaburi Provincial Police commander Suthi Puangpikul’s dereliction of duty in his handling of the lottery case.
Suthi is accused of changing the content of investigation documents concerning the real owner of lottery tickets to support his belief that they belonged to Preecha, not Charoon Wimoon, a retired police officer, who also claimed ownership.
The questioning sessions continued for six hours, after which Kamol said the three continued to insist that the tickets belonged to Preecha.
They have been charged with supporting Suthi because they signed documents that they allegedly knew had been tampered with.
Both vendors are witnesses for Preecha, who sued Charoon for allegedly receiving stolen items. Preecha has insisted that he lost the winning tickets and Charoon picked them up and cashed them in.
Preecha and Rattanaporn were previously arrested and released on bail for allegedly filing a false report against Charoon, with the arrests being seen as a vindication for the retired officer.
Meanwhile, another witness who supported Preecha’s claim, Thanukorn Luengmai-iam, filed a complaint with the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases against two senior police officers with the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB).
Thanukorn said CIB commissioner Pol Lt-General Thitirat Nongharnpitak and Crime Suppression Division commander Pol Maj-General Maitree Chimcherd had abused their power.
The court will decide whether to consider the complaint on April 10.
Thanukorn said he did not have time because both officers had issued a summons on Wednesday for him to report to police yesterday.
The summons was issued on accusations that Thanukorn gave false information concerning the ownership of the tickets.