Police have arrested five monks and a driver of Wat Pa Dhammakiri in Pak Chong district of Nakhon Ratchasima province for their alleged involvement in a 300-million-baht embezzlement scandal. The case involves a former high-profile monk Phra Ajarn Khom, now known as Khom Khongkaeo.
The arrests were made on Tuesday morning by the Crime Suppression Division (CSD). The six men were charged with embezzlement, aiding in the embezzlement and receiving stolen goods. It is believed that they hid cash and valuables worth about 100 million baht in the compound of the forest Buddhist temple.
During questioning, the six suspects admitted to hiding money and valuables in monks’ dormitories, tanks and grounds near the temple, but they insisted that they had nothing to do with the embezzlement. The money and valuables, which included gold ornaments and bullions, had been donated to the temple.
According to the suspects, they were ordered to hide the money and valuables before the authorities began their investigation, but they were not aware of Phra Ajarn Khom’s intentions.
These recent arrests followed the apprehension of the first three suspects in the embezzlement case: Mr Khom, 39, his young sister Juthathip Phubodiwarochuphan, 35, and Wuthima Thaomor, the 38-year-old former abbot of the temple.
Police believed that the alleged embezzlement started in 2020.
Phra Ajarn Khom Abhivaro, who now goes by the name Khom Khongkaeo.