Temple graft took B700m in single year

About 700 million baht is believed to have been embezzled from the government's maintenance fund in 2014, according to the police Counter-Corruption Division (CCD).

Pol Col Wiwat Chaisangkha, CCD deputy chief, said his agency will focus on investigating cases from 2014, the year that state officials suspected of being involved in the embezzlement retired.

He said the CCD still needs to investigate 460 temples suspected of being linked with the embezzlement.

He was speaking after National Office of Buddhism (NOB) director Pongporn Pramsaneh lodged a complaint with CCD commander Kamol Reanracha to investigate the temple embezzlement cases and take legal action against those involved.

Police have said 60.5 million baht was siphoned out of 12 temples' maintenance funds under the guise of "change" money.

The government allocates a budget to the NOB for temple renovations and new projects at temples periodically, but the use of the funds has lately been riddled with corruption, police said.

The suspects, some of whom were high-ranking NOB officers, allegedly contacted temple abbots to propose funding for projects. Corrupt officials would then demand kickbacks. The temple abbot would be expected to give them some "change" in exchange for a project at the temple.

Pol Maj Gen Kamol said 10 people were suspected of being involved in the embezzlement. The cases involving officials would be sent to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) for further investigation.

He said the CCD also found offences had taken place in more than 60 temples in the southern border provinces.

He added the transgressors would be dealt with to weed out this chronic problem, which is believed to have dragged on for 10 years.

Police are chasing down suspected perpetrators who have not yet surrendered to officers to acknowledge the charges, Pol Maj Gen Kamol said.

Of the more than 400 temples subject to scrutiny, the CCD would start probing 20 of them first, Pol Maj Gen Kamol said, adding officers would look into irregularities that date as far back as 2009.

Apart from the temple maintenance fund, grants earmarked to promote religious activities, spread Buddhism and support religious education among Thai monks were also found to be tainted with graft.