Crime Suppression Division police arrested teacher Preecha Kraikruan and a local lottery vendor in Kanchanaburi province on Wednesday in a dramatic climax to the long-running 30-million-baht first-prize dispute.
The arrest occurred after police sought and obtained arrest warrants from the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road in Bangkok in the morning.
Both Mr Preecha and lottery vendor, Ratanaporn Supatip, asserted on Wednesday morning that the teacher had bought the set of five winning lottery tickets for the Nov 1, 2017 draw. They were confident of their evidence and they would take the matter to court.
CSD police waited at Thepmongkol Rangsee School in Muang district, at the teacher's request, for Mr Preecha to finish his morning class before making the arrest around noon.
Police also searched the teacher's office at his school and his house, and said they were taking Mr Preecha to Bangkok.
At a news briefing in Bangkok on Wednesday afternoon, Central Investigation Bureau commissioner Pol Lt Gen Thitirat Nonghanpitak said the CSD investigation focused only on the evidence and witnesses presented by Mr Preecha's side.
Retired Pol Lt Jaroon Wimool, 62, had not presented any evidence or witness, other than the tickets.
The investigation found that the evidence and witnesses presented by Mr Preecha could not be confirmed by any scientific process, he said.
The commissioner also said the Criminal Court approved the arrest warrants on counts of bringing a false complaint and attempting to frame and damage others.
These offences are liable to a jail term of 3-5 years and/or a fine of 10,000-60,000 baht.
Pol Lt Gen Thitirat also said several lottery buyers and vendors had used false witnesses and fake evidence to claim about five jackpot prizes in the past two years. Only buyers and vendors were behind such fraudulent schemes.
The national police chief, Pol Gen Chakthip, told the news conference the CSD investigation had nothing to do with any civil dispute between Mr Preecha and Pol Lt Jaroon, and Mr Preecha had the right to defend himself.
Asked who was the real owner of the disputed first-prize lottery tickets, Pol Gen Chakthip said only that the Supreme Court had ruled that lottery prizes must be paid to the people who hold winning tickets. He also quoted a past remark of the attorney-general - that the owners of government lottery tickets were the people who had possession of them, and anyone who loses a lottery ticket must report it immediately.
The lottery dispute came to light when Mr Preecha, 50, claimed in December that he had purchased the prize-winning tickets and filed a complaint with police against retired Pol Lt Jaroon who cashed in the tickets. He accused him of fraudulent appropriation, claiming Pol Lt Jaroon picked up the tickets after he dropped them.
As a result, the cash prize from the Nov 1, 2017 draw was frozen pending the conclusion of the probe. Pol Lt Jaroon insisted the tickets belonged to him, and said he had already spent some of the money and refused to hand over any of it.
The case was originally handled by Provincial Police Region 7, which oversees Kanchanaburi and other western provinces.
That investigation concluded Mr Preecha was the real owner of the tickets, based on the testimony of witnesses. The national police chief on Feb 5 ordered the regional police to transfer the case to the CSD after the findings were met with loud scepticism from the public.