National—
At 10:00 AM, on March 19th, 2024, Mr. Warachan Chuabankoh and Mr. Nattawit Netijaruroj, the legal advisors of Deputy National Police Chief Surachet Hakparn, held a press conference regarding his alleged involvement in famous gambling networks.
Nattawit publicly stated he and Warachan were authorized by Pol. Gen. Surachet to present the factual information related to the case. Warachan mentioned previous issues involving the Deputy National Police Chief, which were proven untrue, such as making merit donations and purchasing flight tickets for civil servants.
However, the flight tickets were bought for Pol. Lt. Col. Krit Pariyaket and his two other family members, according to the legal team.
The legal team discussed donation receipts linked to Pol. Gen. Surachet to Sala Pun Temple. It was discovered that the donation was actually made by a person named “Ms. Lui,” on October 19th, 2023, who provided a personal donation to Pol. Lt. Col. Krit for a religious ceremony.
According to the legal team, the police issued an arrest warrant for Pol. Lt. Col. Krit, Pol. Gen. Surachet’s subordinate, as he was allegedly found involved in the online gambling case. The Deputy National Police Chief’s name was on the donation receipt.
Upon the legal team investigation, it was found that the donation of 200,000 baht was made by Pol. Gen. Surachet but was not connected to any mule accounts or gambling websites.
The legal teams stated that spreading false information and linking this issue to gambling websites was misleading.
Furthermore, the legal team highlighted that Pol. Gen. Surachet had made numerous donations and received many donation receipts, and any claims of tax deductions for gambling websites were unfounded.
During the press conference, the legal team publicly revealed a list of 34 allegedly involved individuals in the online gambling websites including high-ranking officers and civilians.
The legal team further added that Pol. Gen. Surachet addressed the issue to the investigative police, however, nobody on the list was taken into legal action.
The online gambling cases were under the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission’s investigation. The legal team remarked that those 34 individuals should be taken into consideration as well.
This article originally appeared on our sister website The Pattaya News.
