"If you ask me about culpability, then I think the entire Cabinet must be responsible though no one questioned the legality of the two- and three-digit lotteries at that time," he said.

Suchart spoke to reporters before giving a statement to the Udom Fuangfung panel, which is investigating the illegal state lotteries for the Assets Examination Committee. Suchart confirmed an earlier statement by former deputy prime minister Wissanu Krea-ngam that the Cabinet had sanctioned the state lotteries without checking first with its screening committee.

Instead of verifying the legality of the lotteries, the authorities asked the National Economic and Social Advisory Council under former premier Anand Panyarachun to conduct a study aimed at legalising the then underground lottery, Suchart said.

Well-known academic Sangsit Piriyarangsan was involved in the study and helped to run a sort of public hearing to sway support for the new lottery, he added.

No legal experts and opposition politicians stepped forward to oppose the moves, he said.

The Government Lottery Office was in charge of ticket sales, allocation of revenue for charities and tax liabilities incurred from prizes and earnings, he said.

The office's records were in order and could be checked anytime, he said, denying speculation about possible tax evasion. Prizes and revenues were exempt from value added tax because the two- and three-digit lotteries were meant for charities, he said.