The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a retired policeman, confirming that he owned the government lottery tickets that won a first prize worth 30 million baht five years ago.
On Tuesday, the Kanchanaburi Provincial Court read the ruling to the Supreme Court, dismissing teacher Preecha Kraikruan’s long-standing complaint that he had bought the winning tickets but allegedly lost them.
Jaroon Wimool, a 64-year-old retired Polish lieutenant, won a prize of 29.85 million baht with five tickets with the same number, 533726, in a draw held on November 1, 2017. The man deposited 24,35 million baht in his Krungthai bank account in Kanchanaburi after collecting the prize and spending 5.5 million baht of the money.
But Mr. Preecha, a 52-year-old Buddhism teacher at Thepmongkol Rangsee school in Kanchanaburi’s Muang district, launched a legal dispute accusing Pol Lt Jaroon of theft and claiming he had lost the winning tickets.
Authorities seized the 24.35 million baht saved in the retired policeman’s account after the teacher’s allegations of embezzlement and accepting stolen goods against Jaroon Wimool.
However, the Supreme Court upheld the rulings of the first instance court and the Court of Appeal Region 7 on Tuesday, saying that Mr. Preecha could not file the complaint because the lottery tickets did not belong to him.
The Supreme Court’s ruling comes after the Kanchanaburi Court acquitted Pol Lt Jaroon on the same grounds on June 04, 2019. A year later, the Court of Appeal rejected Mr. Preecha’s request to continue to freeze the lottery award.
The two men, natives of Tambon Ban Pharaek in Kanchanaburi’s Muang district, were on hand to hear the court’s ruling.
Mr. Preecha vowed to continue his legal fight, insisting that the lottery tickets belonged to him but were accidentally dropped at a market in the Muang district.
Pol Lt Jaroon’s lawyer also said that he would take further legal action against Mr. Preecha’s witnesses and bring the Supreme Court ruling to the Criminal Court, where seven cases against the teacher had been filed.
