Ministers of the ousted Thaksin Shinawatra government and bureaucrats in its administration may be indicted for the unlawful two- and three-digit lottery and the handling of Bt15 billion in revenues from it.

Some 30 ministers and about 16 bureaucrats may be charged, a senior graft-buster said yesterday.

"The fact-finding investigation into the unlawful lottery has virtually finished, pending a report, and culprits have been identified," lead investigator Udom Fuangfung said.

The Assets Examination Committee (AEC) is scheduled on Tuesday to review his report on the lottery before releasing the names of defendants and the charges they face.

Udom was appointed by the AEC to lead the investigation. He alleged Cabinet ministers and the full executive board of the Government Lottery Office had been involved in botched decisions leading to the unlawful lottery.

He declined to reveal details of the prosecution.

"The Thaksin Shinawatra regime might not have had any criminal intent in selling the two- and three-digit lottery, but it broke the law. Therefore prosecution is necessary; otherwise future ministers might cite good intentions for killing people," he said.

Past decisions by the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court established that the two- and three-digit lottery was illegal and not sanctioned like regular lotteries under the Lottery Act, he said.

The ousted government illegally claimed lottery revenues for purported charities before proceeding to squander the money instead of putting in state coffers, he alleged.

It failed to meet tax liabilities incurred by sales, he added.

Meanwhile an AEC source said committee member and Auditor General Khunying Jaruvan Main-taka had received threatening mail demanding she halt investigations.

The letter threatened Jaruvan and her family with harm and warned them not to go about alone.

The letter was posted from Kaeng Khoi in Saraburi, the source said.