Number's Up for Thailand's Lottery Swindlers by Phairath Khampha 30 November 2001 Like everything in Thailand, even the lottery is a corrupted racket whereby crooked officials steal from Thailand's people. A gang of gamblers and corrupt government officials had been fixing the results of Thailand's national lottery for the six months ending November 2001 by marking the plastic numbered balls used in the draw. Crime Suppression Police investigator Lieutenant-Colonel Chatchai Liemsanguan said the conspirators packed the audience at televised lottery draws to have their people pick the winning numbers. Two politicians and a bigtime gambler grossed 700 million baht (1 US Dollar = 44.39 Thai Baht) million from underground lottery bosses by fixing the first prize of the state lottery on June 1, using a luminous chemical to mark the plastic numbered balls. He said police had videotaped evidence showing the elaborate lengths to which the gang went to influence the outcome of the lottery draws. Before the draw, gang members spat chemicals on the balls so they could identify which ones to pick. "This gang has been involved in cheating many times. I believe the cheating had the co-operation of one or more of the Government Lottery Office officials." Gang members paid members of the audience to have the chance to go on stage and mark and select the winning balls. This was done when another gang member in the audience created a distraction by banging a chair on the ground, according to reports. One member of the gang, Somtrakul Jokkratok, was arrested on November 12 and was free on 100,000 baht (US$1 = 44.5 baht) bail. Police were looking for two other suspects, identified as Thongsuk Chanakaree and Kittichart Khunpradit. All three were shown on videotapes of the June 1 lottery draw, which triggered a wave of suspicion when the winning number, 113311, was drawn. The reports said gangsters in the Nonthaburi area north of Bangkok had shown signs of becoming "unusually rich" in the previous few months. The Government Lottery Office had been plagued by reports of cheating since it was established in 1939. Gamblers use their advance information to win official prize drawings and in underground numbers rackets based on the lottery draws. Senior GLO staff member being sought - Numbered balls and entry tickets found Crime Suppression Division police sought the arrest of a senior Government Lottery Office official in connection with the June 1 lottery rigging, CSD sources said. The sources declined to identify their suspect but said police visited the GLO on November 22. Police the previous day searched several houses and properties of an influential gambler and his close associates, in Nonthaburi and Pathum Thani. A team of 50 CSD police, led by Pol Col Pongpat Chayapan, head of the CSD's second sub-division, raided two adjoining shophouses of Narong Unpaet, alias Klom Bang Kruai, 49, on Bang Kruai-Sai Noi road in Bang Kruai district. Narong, who showed up shortly after the raid, was taken in for questioning after two unlicensed pistols were found. He denied any involvement in the scam. "Had I known the lottery result in advance, I would have told the poor so they could make some money," said Mr Narong, who admitted to winning 100,000 baht from a single-digit stake in the first-prize lottery and another 5,000 baht from a two-digit stake. Mr Narong denied knowing the three suspects wanted by police, but admitted he sent his men to witness every draw. He claimed he made a living from insurance brokerage and snooker clubs. CSD commander Surasit Sangkhapong said Narong would be charged with illegal possession of firearms. A subsequent search of Mr Narong's snooker club in Bang Kruai turned up two bank books, a registered .38 calibre pistol, many fake ID cards, admission tickets to GLO lottery draws and title deeds, including one belonging to Olympic gold medallist Somluck Khamsing. Police also found 60 numbered ping-pong balls and eight lists of underground lottery bets by punters. Narong claimed his aides ran ping-pong ball lottery draws about five years before. He said he had hired taxi motorcyclists to watch the draws to make sure they were transparent, because he was a bookmaker and had an interest in all kinds of gambling. He asked his men to witness the draws after hearing rumours that the lottery was being manipulated. He paid each man 200 baht and anyone who was selected to draw numbered balls on stage would receive 500 baht more. This set him back 4,000-5,000 baht each time. At the snooker club, police also arrested one of his aides, Veera Simabovornsut, 26, wanted on a charge of physical assault from June 2000. Another team led by Pol Lt-Col Chadchai Liamsa-nguan, a deputy head of the CSD's second sub-division, searched the house of another aide, Atachai Thuankrung, alias Kawao, 29, on Bang Kruai-Sai Noi road. They found three lists of underground lottery orders and admission tickets to GLO draws. Police also took a dark-brown checked shirt they said was similar to the one worn by a man seen inspecting the June 1 draw. Mr Atachai said he hired 50 taxi motorcyclists in Bang Kruai for 200 baht each to watch the draws. People chosen to take part in drawing the balls were paid an extra 500 baht each. Makes one wonder why anyone would spend their own money to have other people attend the draws. Does not make sense unless, of course because this being Thailand, there was some sort of nefarious purpose behind the motivation. Police said lottery gangsters exchanged tickets with spectators, enabling them to take the stage to draw the balls. Police also searched again a house belonging to suspect Somtrakul Jobkratok, in Pathum Thani. Arrested for his role in the scam, he was among the people who drew balls on June 1. Police said two other suspects, Thongsuk Chanakaree and air force officer Kittichart Khunpradit, often stayed at the house. The search team met Anong Kodtha, Mr Kittichart's mistress. She tried to tear up a bank book recording a deposit of 500,000 baht. Police said the woman, who is unemployed, was unable to say how she came across the money. Given that the average Thai is lucky to earn 2,000 per month, this was a handsome amount of money to be held by an unemployed person. Sources said a gang of about 100 people rehearsed in a meeting room at Trang Hotel in Visutkasat before the draw. The room was reserved by a so-called farmer group from Pathum Thani. The gang also planned to rig lottery draws of the Government Savings Bank and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Co-operatives, but called off the plan after finding their drawing machines were too hard to manipulate. Gang's payoff was 700 million baht  The two politicians and a bigtime gambler grossed 700 million million from underground lottery bosses by fixing the first prize of the state lottery on June 1. Police charged Narong Oonsup, an influential figure in Nonthaburi who they suspect masterminded the alleged fixing, with conspiring to commit fraud and public deception. A politician in Nonthaburi won 400 million baht, another politician in Thon Buri won 100 million baht and a bigtime gambler in Nonthaburi's Bang Kruay district won 200 million baht on the June 1 lottery, a well-informed police source said. The source said the three had sent their underlings to place bets with underground lottery bosses around the country, mostly in northeastern provinces, including Ubon Ratchathani, Udon Thani and Nong Khai. Since a 10 baht bet on the two last digits of the first prize number would have won 70 baht, the three must have wagered a total of 10 million baht. Former Nonthaburi MP Chalong Riewraeng denied winning 400 million baht from betting on the underground lottery on June 1. "I don't know why people suspect me. I rarely bet on the underground lottery. I buy only some government lottery tickets and have hardly won anything," Chalong said. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on November 22 said he had told police to dig for evidence and information to bring any wrongdoers to justice. Deputy Finance Minister Warathep Rattanakorn said he would set up a committee to investigate whether Government Lottery Office (GLO) officials were involved in the alleged lottery-fixing scheme. Police earlier had arrested Somtrakul Dokkrathok on charges of conspiring to defraud and deceive the public. Somtrakul was identified as the drawer who had acted suspiciously in his handling of a container of winning numbers in the June 1 lottery. Police said Somtrakul confessed and provided details of how the numbers were fixed. Investigators decided to slap the conspiracy charges on him after uncovering what they believed to be sufficient evidence and witnesses. Police charged a chief warrant officer, Kittichart Kulpradit, with public deception and conspiring to cheat. Kittichart drew the ball for the secondtolast digit of the first prize number on June 1. Kittichart surrendered on November 22. Police said the man who drew the last digit, Thongsuk Chanakari, had contacted them and said he would turn himself in. CSD police on November 25 raided two houmes owned by a village head, another aide of Narong Unpaet, the prime suspect in the scam. Suriyan Duangkaew, or Phuyai Muek, was not at his house in tambon Bang Kruai in Bang Kruai district, Nonthaburi. Nor were any documents relating to the June 1 draw found in his two wooden buildings in the Amazon community. Mr Suriyan's younger brother Lek Duangkaew said his brother had left in the morning to buy belts from a factory. He said his brother would turn himself in to hear police charges. Checks find no evidence draw equipment was tampered with - Police believe three officials involved Police scientists found no evidence of dyes, other chemicals or saliva on the balls and equipment used in the controversial drawing of the June 1 lottery, a source said on November 26. But this is only because the evidence wascarefully removed. Scientific Crime Detection Division officers reported the equipment had been thoroughly cleaned before they had had a chance to test it, the source said. Police were still sure the first prize draw was rigged and that a gang won hundreds of millions of baht betting on the underground lottery, which pays on the final digits. Investigators know the balls were marked by people on stage for the draw. The equipment used on June 1 was sent for tests. Pol Maj-Gen Chuan Voravanich, the division commander, confirmed checks had been complete and the results returned to the Crime Suppression Division. Pol Gen Sant Sarutanont, the police chief, said he believed three officials of the Government Lottery Office conspired with the arrested suspects to manipulate the June 1 first prize result. The Finance Ministry was considering a purge of lottery draw supervisors to win back public confidence. Pol Gen Charnchit Pianlert, deputy national police chief, said people who had bought tickets in the June 1 lottery could lodge complaints. "Police will determine if they were affected by the draw," he said. Pol Gen Charnchit said it was certain the June 1 first prize draw had been fixed and that it was well planned. However, only the Government Lottery Office could decide whether or not to void the results of the June 1 draw. "The GLO may consider the investigators' opinions, but it's not our job to suggest anything," he said. "I understand the public's faith has been badly shaken. I believe the probe will help the GLO design new methods to win back that faith." Deputy Finance Minister Vorathep Rattanakorn said the supervisors of the lottery draws might be replaced. He had raised the matter with the permanent secretary for finance. "Although it's not conclusive they were involved, they should be taken off future draws," he said. A source close to the investigation said three lottery staff implicated in the scam had been identified. One of them was a section chief, another was inspector of admission tickets and the other was keeper of the drawing equipment. On June 10, staff at the Agriculture and Agricultural Co-operatives Bank who were about to draw the AACB lottery found three contaminated containers and had them photographed, the source said. The staff used reserve equipment and had one of the three containers cleaned for use in the draw. Police believe the substance used to mark the balls was white but had yet to identify it. "But it is cheap and available. Up to 20 people were said to have been trained to use this substance and they had rehearsed it well," the source said. Ticket sales dive as scam takes its toll Except for those with certain numbers, sales of tickets for Thailand's November 30 state lottery draw were downright dismal, following media coverage of the fixing of the June 1 draw, ticket vendors said. Many of the vendors working around Kok Wua intersection said they might have to slash the price to 100 baht for three tickets in order to get rid of unsold stock. The tickets had been priced at 40 baht apiece although sellers normally can demand a 5 baht premium due to strong demand. Suthep Wongsaisim, a ticket vendor at Chokechai 4 Market, said tickets with the number 80 or 08 sold out quickly after number-fixing suspect Narong Ounpaet, also known as Klom Bangkluay, hinted that they could be part of the November 30 winning number. Suthep said he still had almost 2,000 tickets left because they did not have those two digits. Government Lottery Office director Chaiwat Pasokpakdee blamed the fixing of the lottery for undermining public confidence in the lottery and causing sales to plunge. "I think the media have played it up too much and police have hyped up their investigations to whet media interest," he said. Underground lottery bookmakers in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai admitted that the two numbers 80 and 08 had attracted more than 100 million baht in bets. The odds were 1:50 for a two-digit winning number and 1:80 for the last two digits of the November 30 first prize. A racket leader said the skewed betting reflected betters' sentiment in light of the scam, dismissing speculation that Narong could rig the the November 30 draw. The November 30 draw was be personally supervised by Finance permanent secretary Somjainuk Engtrakuland had a beefed-up police presence. Meanwhile, the Anti Money Laundering Office took legal proceedings against suspected accomplice Chai Koksamrong, impounding 15 million baht belonging to him pending an asset-seizure hearing, the office's secretary-general Pirapan Premputi said. Asset-seizure proceedings might also be taken against six of the 10 fraud suspects, Pirapan said. Money-laundering laws put the burden of proof on suspects to explain the sources of their wealth. In Thailand you are in effect guilty until otherwise proven innocent, aprticularly where powerful officials can take away your wealth. Former MP Chalong Riewraeng said he had surrendered his 13 bank accounts for police examination although he had not been informed whether or not they had been frozen. Chalong told reporters that Narong, one of the suspects, had previously worked for him as a vote canvasser but had already defected to rival politician Pimpa Chantaraprasong. Investigators earlier said they suspected Chalong had won 400 million baht in underground bets on the June 1 results. Police issued a summons for Anan "Sam" Sukhuang.They also raided his home but failed to find him.