‘Big Joke’ exposes 30 cops in online gambling payout scandal
Ex-top cop claims fellow officers took cash from shady websites
A former senior police officer testified before a House panel, accusing dozens of fellow officers of taking payments from illegal online gambling networks.
Former deputy national police chief Police General Surachate Hakparn, better known as “Big Joke,” has accused more than 30 police officers of receiving payments from illegal online gambling networks, handing over what he called “evidence” to a House committee yesterday, November 6.
Surachate spent nearly three hours testifying before the House Committee on State Security, Border Affairs, National Strategies and Reforms, chaired by MP Rangsiman Rome. Speaking to reporters after the session, he claimed to have submitted records of financial transactions linking gambling websites to the personal bank accounts of the implicated officers.
Big Joke referred to Pol. Gen. Kitrat Phanphet.
“I handed this same evidence to the national police chief back in August. Nothing happened, so I brought it to Parliament instead.”
Surachate alleged that some of the officers named were part of a task force specifically formed to crack down on online gambling operations. Since his dismissal from the police force, he said he now acts as a concerned citizen exercising his legal right to raise the issue with lawmakers.
He also revealed that a high-ranking police general, referred to only as “T”, was implicated in the data, with suspicious money transfers traced to accounts belonging to the general’s wife, brother and sister.
In a sharp swipe at the police chief, Surachate accused Kitrat of orchestrating internal moves to discredit him, following his widely quoted remark that “the police are the biggest criminal organisation.”
When asked about the comment, Big Joke stood by it but clarified that he was referring specifically to a “small group” of officers involved in corrupt activities, not the entire 200,000-member police force, according to The Nation.
The explosive allegations come amid ongoing scrutiny of law enforcement’s role in tackling Thailand’s sprawling online gambling operations, which have been linked to major money laundering schemes and criminal networks.
The House committee has pledged to review the documents and consider further investigation. So far, neither Kitrat nor any of the accused officers have issued a formal response.
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