The Ratchadapisek Criminal Court issued a warrant this afternoon for the arrest of Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn, the deputy national police chief, on the grounds that there is sufficient evidence that he was involved in money laundering in connection with an online gambling platform and attempted to dodge summonses issued by police investigators.

The Thung Song Hong enquiry officers in charge of the money laundering case had issued three successive summonses for Surachate to report to acknowledge the charges against him on April 1st, but they were all ignored in what is believed to have been a delaying tactic, forcing the officers to seek a warrant from the court.

The court considered the request at about 4pm today and decided to issue the arrest warrant.

It was reported that Surachate had cancelled all his appointments, turned off his cell phone and booked a flight to a southern province this evening, after he learned of the issuance of the arrest warrant.

Arrest warrants were earlier issued for three other police officers close to Surachate and a civilian for alleged involvement in money laundering linked to the BNK Master gambling platform.

Addressing the charges against his client, Surachate’s lawyer, Natthakorn Tosakul, filed a defamation lawsuit with the Bangkok South Criminal Court on March 13th, against Pol Maj-Gen Charoonkiat Pankaew, deputy commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, accusing him of leaking information of the police investigation to the media, causing damage to Surachate.