PUBLISHED: 13 Apr 2025 at 22: 00
A source claims that a former National Office of Buddhism ( NOB ) chief who was accused of stealing temple funds has been detained in Texas.
Nopparat Benjawattananan, who emigrated after the scandal first emerged in 2017, was detained on April 11 by the US Marshals Service in a hospital back of a conventional extradition request anticipated from the Thai state.
Thai authorities requested his arrest in response to his request to be extradited to face embezzlement-related costs. The abduction procedure might take some time.
He was discovered to be unusually wealthy and the National Anti-Corruption Commission ( NACC ) linked him to the bribery of funds from temple budgets.
The NACC mandated the seizure of$ 94.2 million baht worth of assets held by Mr. Nopparat and others. The NACC made the decision to indict Mr. Nopparat in December 2023 for embezzling$ 30 million baht in money.
There are currently 36 church fund scam cases pending with the NACC, out of a total of 47, in which Mr. Nopparat is a part. The officers Counter-Corruption Division is handling more than a few other cases involving him.
In the NACC investigation, Mr. Nopparat and two others, including the former directors of the Temple Restoration and Religious Welfare Section, Wasawat Kittitheerasit, and Pranom Kongpikul, the former chairman of the Buddhist Places Division, were accused of embezzling money from three Ayutthaya shrines.
The NACC claims that the pair demanded that the temples pay them at least 90 % of their yearly grants in 2013 to help them help temples in rural areas, particularly in the Deep South.
Wat Jongkolnee provided the pair with 1.6 million ringgit from their 2-million-baht payment, and Wat Nopparat’s brother Wathanyu Petcharat received the check.
According to the investigation, the other two temples each gave Ms Pranom 900,000 ringgit from their one million-baht monthly payment.
Additionally, they were accused of stealing 28 million baht during the 2014 fiscal time to pay for the construction of five shrines in Bangkok, Samut Songkhram, Samut Prakan, Saraburi, and Nakhon Pathom.
Investigations revealed that none of those churches had requested donations for NOB reconstruction funds.
Nopparat: Charged with corruption