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Published on January 19, 2008

The Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) has ordered police to reinvestigate the two- and three-digit lottery case involving former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and a number of Cabinet ministers, source said yesterday.

The order cited grounds of insufficient evidence against them.

The OAG also suggested setting up a joint investigation panel comprising its officials and those from the Assets Examination Commission (AEC).

The OAG's decision to gather further evidence is expected to be announced at a meeting with the commission on Monday.

In its statement reportedly received by the AEC on Thursday, the OAG specified five points on which more evidence was needed to implicate Thaksin and 47 other people, mainly ministers who attended the Cabinet meeting on August 8, 2003 that approved the controversial two- and three-digit lottery.

Legal experts' accounts are needed to verify the details of tax payments and definitions of certain terms to determine whether the Government Lottery Office could lawfully operate the two- and three-digit lottery.

It did this for more than two years but stopped before the military coup on September 19 last year.

The AEC report on the investigation also lacked details on how the proceeds were distributed to fund charity programmes or donated to the public.

A detailed report from the Auditor-General's Office on how profits from the lottery were made was also needed, the OAG said in its notes on the AEC report.

The report also lacked information on whether any type of lottery was operated similar to the one Thakin initiated, and if so, was tax exemption granted, as was done for the two- and three-digit lottery.

Deputy Attorney-General, Waiwuth Lortrakool said the AEC's indictment accusing Thaksin and 47 others of illegally approving and operating the two- and three-digit lottery case could have been dropped when it was submitted to the court due to the lack of evidence and other information.

The OAG has proposed the names of five senior public prosecutors as members of a joint investigation committee with the AEC.

The Nation