The Crime Suppression Division has launched an investigation into five cases involving disputes over the ownerships of first-prize government lottery tickets as it suspects they are organised crime.
The move came after a former police officer from Kanchanaburi province asked the Royal Thai Police Office to intervene in his case in which a teacher claimed to be the real owner of his first-prize tickets worth 30 million baht.
Pol Lt Gen Thitirat Nonghanpitak, commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, said on Tuesday he ordered the investigation into similar cases in the past and present.
"I believe complicated stories are behind each of the cases and it's possible they had been orchestrated. So I ordered the Crime Suppression Division to find out if there's a connection between these cases," Pol Lt Gen Thitirat said.
The five cases happened in Bangkok, Buri Ram, Kanchanaburi, Suphan Buri and Udon Thani provinces.
In the Bangkok case, two women accused a close female friend of stealing tickets for the 30-million-baht prize from the April 1, 2016 draw.
In the Buri Ram case, a man claimed his 12-million-baht tickets for the Aug 16 draw were stolen and cashed by a couple.
In the Kanchanaburi case, the former policeman was accused of collecting lost lottery tickets of a teacher and the tickets won a combined 30-million-baht prize in the Dec 1 draw. Pol Lt Charoon Wimul, the accused, said some senior police officer had threatened him with legal action unless he agreed to confess to collecting the tickets.
In the Suphan Buri case, a woman asked the police to find a first-prize ticket worth 6 million baht from the Dec 1 draw. Another woman cashed it on the draw date.
In Udon Thani, one of the two women in the Bangkok case claimed another friend had stolen her half of the 30-million-baht first-prize tickets from the April 1 draw this year.