A royal monk in the north siphoned off funds from several temples, totaling 100 million baht, claiming that a large religious building had not been built for 10 years, and had an extramarital affair with a female believer for 15 years, who kept giving her money until she became a millionaire.
The latest development in the case of a senior monk embezzling more than 100 million baht from a temple. Lieutenant General Charoonkiat Pankaew, deputy director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, revealed that the hot topic is not the Phra Rajakhana, but a senior monk who is well-known in various provinces. At present, the investigation is still ongoing. It will take some time to determine whether there is any alleged illegal behavior.
According to news reports, the anti-corruption department is investigating the senior monk involved in the case based on a complaint letter. The monk is “Phra Rajakhana, Dharma level” and serves as “the provincial head of a certain area” in the northern or central regions.
The complaint letter shows that the monk was suspected of dating a female lay Buddhist and even living a married life with a senior monk. He supported and doted on the female lay Buddhist for more than 15 years until she became a respected “provincial rich man”.
According to another investigation, the abbot of the province had previously embezzled more than 100 million baht from several temples, claiming that it was used for a large-scale religious construction project, but the project has been going on for more than ten years and has not yet been completed. Part of the funds were also transferred to a female believer or her cronies and used for other purposes. If there is any progress, we will report again.
