A disgraced ex-monk was sentenced to 114 years in prison by a court in Bangkok yesterday, a decision that came more than 12 months after he was extradited from the United States.

Wiraphon Sukphon made headlines at the age of 39 age in 2013 when footage showed him riding in an executive plane.

Then he fled to the United States after being accused of raping a minor and deceiving donors who gave him money to create the world's largest emerald Buddha image.

A further probe revealed he owned luxury cars and had multiple bank accounts.

Wiraphon was convicted yesterday of money laundering, fraud and violating the Computer Crime Act for raising funds online.

But a court official said that while Wiraphon had received terms of imprisonment totaling 114 years it was unlikely he would serve more than 20.

He was, however, ordered to return 28.6 million baht (HK$6.76 million) to 29 donors.

And a ruling on the rape case is expected in October. That involves Wiraphon being accused of having sex with an under-age girl 10 years ago and fathering a child with her. He faces another 20 years behind bars if convicted.

Extortion, sex and drug cases tied to the clergy have shocked Thais, and authorities last year floated the idea of introducing digitized ID cards to better track monks with criminal convictions.