Prayut vows temple graft case justice

The deputy director of the National Office of Buddhism (NOB) will be suspended or transferred if there is evidence linking him to an alleged embezzlement scheme at a well-known Ayutthaya temple, said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

“I am proceeding with the issue. The media does not have to know which method I will use,” said Gen Prayut when questioned on reports that no efforts had been made by the NOB to remove the deputy director.

Calls arose for deputy director Phanom Kongpikul to be suspended after he was accused of being linked to the embezzlement of 13 million baht in maintenance funds from Wat Phanan Choeng.

Kamol Reanracha, the commander of the police’s Counter-Corruption Division (CCD) said the NOB will be responsible for continuing the embezzlement probe.

The CCD earlier spearheaded the investigation into the alleged embezzlement scheme. The division initially found that 60 million baht had been embezzled from funds given to 12 temples nationwide.

According to the initial investigation, once the money from the NOB budget — allocated for maintenance — was transferred to temples, most of it was redirected to the embezzlement gang. Those stolen funds were called “change money”.

In the second round of the probe, the CCD suspected another 27 temples of being involved. That investigation is still under way.

Pol Maj Gen Kamol said the NOB will be in charge of further probes since the agency has all the necessary information and can handle them more easily.

The CCD will not send officials to randomly check temples as it had earlier done as each deployment is costly and requires a lot of personnel, he said.

Referring to concerns about the transparency of the investigation by the NOB, Pol Maj Gen Kamol said he is confident in the agency, adding it is determined to root out the culprits. If the NOB fails to probe the temples suspected of being involved in the scam, the CCD will step in, he said.

Pol Maj Gen Kamol said the NOB will be asked to set up a panel to probe the cases and once the names of alleged culprits are unearthed, they will be reported to the CCD, which will investigate them and later report to the National AntiCorruption Commission.

Some retired and incumbent officials were suspected of being involved in the embezzlement scheme, including the deputy chief of the NOB.