BANGKOK: Thai police said on Friday they arrested a senior Buddhist monk on suspicion of embezzling $2.8 million intended for his monastery, alongside a suspected female accomplice he was having sex with.
The case is the latest scandal to hit the clergy in Buddhist-majority Thailand, after a sex and extortion case involving senior monks last year prompted public outrage and calls for greater scrutiny of temple finances.
Phra Wachirayan Wi, the 66-year-old abbot of the 14th-century temple Wat Phutthaisawan in the ancient capital of Ayutthaya, was arrested on Thursday on charges including embezzlement and money laundering, according to lead police investigator Pattanasak Bupphasuwan.
A 47-year-old woman accused of helping convert and conceal the money was also arrested. Leaked CCTV footage of the pair having sex on a table in the monk’s residence was widely broadcast on Thai media.
In Thailand, Buddhist monks take a vow of celibacy and also renounce material possessions. Police began investigating Phra Wachirayan in mid-July after receiving an anonymous tip accusing him of misconduct and misuse of temple funds.
