Lottery news from http://nationmultimedia.com/
Accomplice spat on ball to mark it out as the one to be chosen
The Appeals Court yesterday upheld guilty verdicts against a mafia-style figure in Nonthaburi and his three accomplices for illegal manipulation of a lottery draw.
Narong Ounphaet (also known as Klom Bangkruay), Kittichat Kulpradit, Somtrakul Jobkratoke and Suriyan Duangkaew were sentenced to six years jail for fixing a draw in 2001. According to evidence, the defendants colluded to fix the lottery by recruiting people to attend the draw. The Government Lottery Office (GLO) allowed members of the public to witness the draw in order to ensure transparency.
For the first prize, GLO randomly chose witnesses to draw and examine the winning numbers.
During the draw an accomplice, Thongsuk Chanakaree, spat some liquid on to the ball numbered 1 as he presented himself to examine the balls. Kittichat later passed himself as another randomly chosen person to pick the ball. In front of the bowl of balls, video clips showed Kittichat diligently looking into the bowl and picking up the marked ball. The number winning first prize was 113311.
Thongsuk became a state witness and testified against the defendants.
Another witness told the court that Somtrakul and Kittichat provided training at a resort on how to fix the lottery results.
A taxi motorcyclist also took the stand to say that he had once been paid Bt200 by Narong to witness a draw. He added that Suriyan was an aide to Narong and would generally observe the situation during draws.
Evidence showed that the defendants had hired people to witness draws and asked them to pass on their number cards to the trained accomplices if their numbers were chosen. As a result, the accomplices could fix the results.
Following a draw in 2004, Narong and Pichai Thep-arak, an influential figure in Lop Buri, demanded that an underground-lottery operator pay them Bt15 million because they had bought a winning number from him.
Underground-lottery operators generally give prizes based on the last two or three digits of the number winning first prize in the official lottery.
The court ruled that the evidence was solid enough to convict Narong, Somtrakul, Kitichat and Suriyan.
It acquitted Pichai of draw-fixing but sentenced him to two years in jail on a charge of embezzlement conspiracy for demanding prize money from the underground-lottery operator.
Defence lawyer Pisal Wibulsilp said his clients would appeal to the Supreme Court. Relatives of Narong and Pichai are seeking bail for them.
|
|
