Recovery of Assets and Claims for Theft of Lottery Tickets
(a) Regarding the case of Fraud, the defendant induced the plaintiff to enter into a mortgage agreement in order to secure the defendant’s debt to the named party, amounting to 450,000 baht (b) Regarding the case of Theft, the defendant took lottery tickets numbered belonging to the plaintiff, three days after the incident. The lottery ticket, number 123456, valued at 40 baht, was announced by the Royal Lottery Office. The Royal Lottery announced that lottery ticket number 123456 of the plaintiff was won. Police apprehended the defendant and recovered 100,000 baht. Ten days later, during the interrogation, the defendant admitted his guilt and stated that he had dropped the lottery ticket. The investigation revealed that the Royal Lottery Office stated that lottery ticket number 123456 was still unaccounted for and that no one had yet claimed the prize.
Accordingly, it should be determined whether, in both of these aforementioned cases, the Public Prosecutor may file a criminal case seeking the recovery of assets or the price on behalf of the plaintiff. The answer is as follows: (a) The plaintiff may be liable for the mortgage debt to the named party according to the mortgage agreement, rather than losing 450,000 baht because of the defendant’s fraud. Therefore, the sum of 450,000 baht is not considered an asset or price lost due to the defendant’s wrongdoing. Consequently, the Public Prosecutor is permitted to file a criminal case based on fraud without seeking the recovery of assets or the price. (4 points) (b) In this case, the theft involved the taking of Royal Lottery tickets. The asset lost by the plaintiff is the Royal Lottery ticket, which has not yet been claimed according to the ticket. The Public Prosecutor can only recover lottery ticket number 123456 or demand compensation for the purchase price. It is noted that if the lottery ticket cannot be returned, the use of 100,000 baht will not be applicable, as it cannot be stated that the plaintiff has lost an asset equal to the amount of the prize that would have been received from the ticket. The plaintiff can still file a claim for the prize from the Royal Lottery Office, and will likely file a separate civil lawsuit. Therefore, the Public Prosecutor is permitted to file a case of Theft, seeking the recovery of Royal Lottery ticket number 123456 or its replacement value, according to Article 43 of the Criminal Procedure Code. (6 points)