Famous lawyer denies embezzling 71m baht from Thai euro lotto winner
The lawyer claims the funds were given in goodwill and as payment for his legal services, defendant rejects the claim saying the money had been paid for him to develop an online lottery platform
A lawyer who shot to fame by winning a high-profile case denied on Tuesday that he had embezzled 71 million baht from a Thai woman who had won 10 billion baht-plus in the euro lotto jackpot.
Sittha Biabungkerd spoke to reporters at the Crime Suppression Division (CSD), where he was interrogated over a complaint filed by Jatuporn “Jeh Oy” Ubollert.
Jatuporn had filed a complaint with the Central Investigation Bureau, alleging that Sittha had stolen the 71 million baht she had transferred to him to set up an online lottery platform for her.
Sittha, however, insists the money was given to him out of goodwill and as a bonus for having served as Jatuporn’s legal counsel for more than a year.
“Now you no longer favour me, you should not have done this,” Sittha lamented.
In a television interview earlier, Sittha had said that Jatuporn decided to give him 2 million euros instead of paying him 300,000 baht per month for counselling. He claimed Jatuporn had once regarded him as her “beloved brother”.
However, in an interview with Manager Group founder Sondhi Limthongkul on his Sondhi Talk YouTube channel, Jatuporn said she did not give the money to Sittha, but wanted him to start an online lottery platform for her instead.
She also alleged that Sittha may have siphoned money from her in various ways, like charging 13 million baht for a Mercedes Benz SUV she had told him to buy even though the market price was about 8 million baht.
She also claimed that Sittha had once called on her to help a financially distressed relative by getting her to wire the relative 39 million baht.
However, while speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Sittha said he had always presented Jatuporn with an invoice and had stolen nothing.
“I used to be her beloved brother. No matter what she wanted me to do, I did it all,” Sittha said.
He added that he had decided to meet the CSD investigators because he had been waiting for a summons but nothing had arrived. In comparison, he said, police had summoned Jatuporn to testify several times already.
Also, he said, he chose to meet the investigators because he felt uneasy about several CSD officers staking out his house in three cars as of Tuesday morning.
As for Jatuporn’s allegations, he said he had not responded to them earlier because he wanted her to present her side of the story first. Sittha said he had advised the police to interrogate her in detail alone, without the presence of a lawyer.
“I know what the real story is, and I want the police to do their duties to the full extent without rushing them,” the lawyer said.
As for Jatuporn’s allegation that he had overcharged her for the SUV, Sittha said the market price for Mercedes Benz GLS AMG Premium was far higher than 8 million baht and he had not rented the vehicle to Chinese tourists as she alleged.
He added that Jatuporn had given him the 71 million baht out of “affection”, clarifying that the word did not have any sexual connotations.
Sittha also said that if his former client could prove he had cheated her, then he would be ready to return the money.
“Since the case is still ongoing, I’m not sure if I have to return the money or not,” he said.
As for the 39 million Jatuporn says she paid his relative, Sittha said the money was meant to be transferred to a person claiming to be a popular Chinese entertainer. He said Jatuporn wanted this entertainer to fly to Thailand to meet her personally. However, he said, this person wanted to be paid in digital coins, so he had his relative called “Nu” transfer the digital currency to this person. That is why Jatuporn had to transfer 39 million baht to his relative.
The lawyer added that this so-called Chinese entertainer turned out to be a scammer, which is why Jatuporn did not get to meet the person she wanted.
Sittha said he spoke to the police for 15 minutes, adding that police would have him testify again later, without disclosing the date.
The lawyer shot to fame after he won a case for retired police officer Pol Lieutenant Charoon Wimol. His client had won the 30-million baht first-prize lottery in 2017, but a then-teacher in Kanchanaburi, Preecha Kraikruan, had collaborated with a lottery vendor to make false claims that he had bought a set of five tickets and lost them. Sittha helped Charoon win the case after a five-year-long legal battle.
