New scandal echoing 'Sika Golf' emerges

Police are investigating a high-ranking monk over allegations he embezzled hundreds of millions of baht in temple donations and engaged in an inappropriate romantic relationship, in a case reminiscent of the recent “Sika Golf” scandal.

- WASSAYOS NGAMKHAM

Pol Maj Gen Jaroonkiat Pankaew, deputy commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, confirmed that an operation was underway following a longstanding complaint lodged with the Religious Affairs Centre.

The accused, who holds a higher ecclesiastical peerage than the monks implicated in the Sika Golf case, is alleged to have misused temple funds intended for religious site construction and is also suspected of misconduct involving a laywoman, he said, adding that this case is separate from the aforementioned one.