Big Joke has sent a lawyer to sue 10 police officers involved in the BNK Master gambling case for violations under Section 157 and for malicious prosecution. The court has scheduled a hearing on the indictment review for 27 Apr 2026 GMT+7.
At 13:00 on 30 Mar 2026 GMT+7, at the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct, Police General Surachate Hakparn, former Deputy Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police, authorized lawyer Sanyaphatchara Samart to file a lawsuit against 10 police officers responsible for investigating the BNK Master gambling case. The defendants include two police major generals and two police colonels, along with other investigative officers. They are charged with misconduct in office, filing false criminal complaints to investigators or authorities, and maliciously causing an individual to receive criminal penalties or heavier sentences.
Lawyer Sanyaphatchara stated that, according to news reports, the investigative team in the BNK Master case lodged complaints with the Taopoon Police Station against three suspects on charges of organizing online gambling and money laundering on 23 Jul 2023 GMT+7. Notably, the officers who accepted the case were not on duty and had no scheduled shift at that date and time. On 26 Jul 2023 GMT+7, the investigators petitioned the court for arrest warrants for the three suspects, conducted arrests, and seized their mobile phones. During the arrests and searches, the police spoke to the suspects in a manner that implied a connection to Police General Surachate's subordinates.
Sanyaphatchara added that on 22 Sep 2023 GMT+7, investigators filed a petition seeking arrest warrants for eight police officers, deliberately concealing their ranks and positions, failing to inform the court that they were senior police officials. This led the court to issue arrest warrants for all eight officers. Then, on 25 Sep 2023 GMT+7, police arrested seven officers and one police lieutenant colonel. A search warrant was also executed at Police General Surachate's residence. The arrests were widely publicized in the media, causing the public to mistakenly believe that Police General Surachate himself was being arrested, damaging his reputation.
Sanyaphatchara pointed out that in the BNK Master case, financial transactions totaled as much as 450 million baht. According to law, cases involving over 300 million baht should fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) or the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC). The prosecution of Police General Surachate should also be under DSI and NACC authority. However, the case file was held for over 100 days, despite investigators having only 30 days of authority. This situation led to disciplinary actions to remove Police General Surachate from consideration for promotion to Commissioner-General. Therefore, the case is being brought to court for trial.
Police General Surachate conveyed a message to the investigators, urging them to act strictly within the bounds of the law and not to exceed their authority, warning that exceeding their mandate would mean they must be held accountable for their actions.
The Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct accepted the case as No. At.63/2026 and scheduled a hearing to decide whether to accept the case for trial on 27 Apr 2026 GMT+7 at 09:30.