The Kanchanaburi Court yesterday returned 24 million baht in lottery prize-money to retired policeman Jaroon Wimool, who won his court battle with teacher Preecha Kraikruan in June.
The court lifted the freeze on the money which was held in the bank account of 63-year-old Pol Lt Jaroon at his request.
Pol Lt Jaroon was in the courtroom, along with his wife, his lawyer and his unhappy 51-year-old opponent, Mr Preecha.
Pol Lt Jaroon earlier filed a civil lawsuit against Mr Preecha, according to his lawyer Sithra Biabangkerd.
The retired policeman won first prizes in the lottery totalling 30 million baht with a set of five tickets on Nov 1, 2017.
The after-tax amount totalled about 29 million baht, 5 million of which he spent. Then Mr Preecha filed a suit, claiming ownership of the lottery tickets and leading to the court freezing the remaining 24 million baht in Mr Jaroon's account pending settlement of the dispute.
On June 4, the Kanchanaburi Court declared Pol Lt Jaroon the rightful owner of the winning tickets.
The court ruled there was no credible evidence that Mr Preecha was at the Red City Market in Muang district of Kanchanaburi on Oct 30, 2017, the day Pol Lt Jaroon bought the lottery tickets from a vendor there.
The case, which drew significant public attention at the time, has been fraught with twists and turns.
Police earlier arrested Mr Preecha and lottery vendor Ratanapon Supathip for reporting a false crime.