Yasothon Lottery Rivals Agree To Split Bt23 Mill

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Yasothon lottery rivals agree to split Bt23 million

YASHOTHON: -- A dispute over Bt23 million in lottery jackpot winnings has been settled out of court after the victim of an apparent scam accepted half of the prize money offered by the alleged perpetrators.

But police refused to halt criminal legal action against the eight alleged perpetrators on the grounds that certain charges were crimes against the state and could not be settled out of court.

Praiwan Hemsamak, who was lured into handing over the winning ticket to the original seller, withdrew her complaint from the Muang Yasothon police station on Friday, a day after she reached a settlement with the eight suspects.

On Thursday, Praiwan signed a contract with the eight suspects at Yasothon’s Prosecution Office stating that the two sides had jointly won the jackpot price and thus the Bt23-million prize would be shared equally between them.

The suspects’ lawyer, Kittikhachorn Chaleeputtha-phong, mediated the agreement.

Earlier, Praiwan refused to accept Bt13 million from the suspects to end the dispute and demanded Bt18 million instead. However, after a new round of negotiation at the Prosecution Office, she agreed to take only Bt11.5 million and withdrew the complaint.

Praiwan purchased a lottery ticket that won the Bt23-million jackpot in the May 16 draw. Before she realised her good fortune, the ticket seller, Paisri Lailoa, and her elder sister Pissamai Khamthong had come knocking on Praiwan’s door, saying they needed to double-check the ticket.

Praiwan gave the ticket to them and it was never returned. She later found out that a relative of the lottery seller claimed the jackpot using her ticket.

The housewife then lodged a complaint with police, who charged eight suspects with embezzlement.

Pol Lt-Colonel Samniang Luejiangkham, who is in charge of the case, yesterday named another charge against the suspects: taking away a “rights document”, preventing the rightful owner from using it.

Samniang said the new charge could not be settled out of court so he would ask public prosecutors to take action against the suspects on this charge. Likewise, the charge of accepting stolen goods from thieves is a crime against the state, which cannot be settled out of court.

“So police will pursue legal action against the eight suspects on the two remaining charges although the embezzlement charge has been dropped,” Samniang said.

The police officer said the Government Lottery Office should also file complaint against the eight suspects for falsely claiming that they had won the jackpot prize.

--TNA 2005-06-29