Kanchanaburi Provincial Court on Thursday agreed to hear charges of embezzlement and receiving stolen items against a retired policeman Pol Lieutenant Charoon Wimul, in the continuing high-profile row over lottery winnings worth Bt30 million.
Charoon had prepared Bt90,000 to apply for bail release during the trial.
Late last year, schoolteacher Preecha Kraikruan – with two lottery ticket vendors as his key witnesses – claimed that he had lost the five lottery tickets of the same number 533726 for the November 1 draw that won Bt30 million. He said he purchased them and filed a complaint with police against Charoon.
Charoon, meanwhile, claimed he bought the tickets from a vendor at a market and had already collected the prize money.
As they argued amid huge public attention, both sides were hit with charges.
Preecha and two lottery vendors faced charges in March of filing a false complaint with police, giving false information to officials and framing another person in a criminal case. Charoon is now facing a court battle over charges of embezzlement and receiving stolen items.
Prior to the court’s decision to hear the case against Charoon, Preecha arrived at court saying this was the day that the truth would prevail and he said he would accept the court’s decision regardless of the outcome.
Preecha had said that if the court accepted the case, he had a lot of evidence to back his claim of being the real owner of the jackpot-winning tickets.
