Abbot will face DSI probe over donations

[Lite Beer]

Abbot will face DSI probe over donations
Piyanuch Thamnukasetchai
The Nation

Phra Dhammachayo received huge sums from the troubled Klongchan cooperative

BANGKOK: -- DHAMMAKAYA TEMPLE'S abbot, Phra Dhammachayo, will have to explain to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) how he came to receive massive donations from the embezzlement-plagued Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative.

"The money was transferred to the abbot's personal bank account," Pol Lt-Colonel Somboon Sarasit, who heads the DSI's Special Crime 3 Bureau, said yesterday.

During his time as the cooperative's chairman, Supachai Srisupaaksorn issued 15 cheques with a combined value of more than Bt800 million for Dhammakaya Temple and Phra Dhammachayo. Investigations show the temple and the abbot cashed 13 of the cheques, receiving more than Bt700 million from the cooperative.

Nearly half of the amount went to Phra Dhammachayo, said Somboon.

Supachai and several other former executives are now accused of embezzling more than Bt12 billion from the cooperative. |More than 10,000 people have suffered |as a result of the embezzlement.

In the wake of the scandal, Phra Dhammachayo and the temple this year said they would return the money to the cooperative. Their promise has not, however, resulted in the authorities easing up on the attention they are giving to the two.

Somboon yesterday said that just like other recipients of the cooperative's money, Phra Dhammachayo would be summoned for questioning.

"For the time being, we are waiting for evidence from financial institutions," he said. "After this, we will summon them."

The DSI has found that in addition to Dhammakaya Temple and related figures, Supachai also gave the cooperative's money to other parties, including SW Holding Group and its director Sathaporn Wattanasirikul, and Mongkol Setthee Credit Union Limited.

Besides the current issue, Phra Dhammachayo is already embroiled in much controversy. But he has never commented.

Paiboon Nititawan, who chairs the National Reform Council's committee on the protection of Buddhism, has also spoken up about a 1999 statement of the then-Supreme Patriarch that suggested Dhammachayo be defrocked over an embezzlement case.

The Sangha Supreme Council (SSC), meanwhile, has decided to set up a panel to monitor work related to the reform and protection of Buddhism in the wake of the NRC's decision to form the Paiboon-headed committee.

According to the SSC resolution that was made on February 20, but only publicly released yesterday, the panel will report to the SSC. It has six members, four of whom also sit on the SSC.

The SSC has lately also faced much pressure after news reports, which were later dismissed, said it had ruled in favour of Phra Dhammachayo on February 20. According to a now-released statement, the SSC only resolved to acknowledge a report by the National Office of Buddhism on Phra Dhammachayo's case, and did not issue any ruling on the matter. The report gave details on what the office presented to the panel.

This week, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam publicly said the SSC should release the statement on its resolutions in order to clear public doubt.

The uproar has threatened to cause a divide among monks and other Buddhists, with some monks having already come forward to express different opinions.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha did not directly mention the matter during his weekly TV programme. But he said: "As for the sensitive issue of religious affairs, Deputy PM Wissanu and PM's Office Minister Suwaphan [Tanyuvardhana] have been tasked with studying the nature of the problem. I would rather not use the words 'conflicting parties' because of the religious nature of the issue. However, the state has the responsibility to tackle legal violations, whether related to finances and whatnot."

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Abbot-will-face-DSI-probe-over-donations-30255053.html

-- The Nation 2015-02-28

[chooka]

Everyone looks care free and happy in the pic

[issanaus]

Every journey starts with a first step - I wonder where this journey will end up.

wish I could provide links to another "place" but the rules will not let me (not TVF fault)

[Robby nz]

Every journey starts with a first step - I wonder where this journey will end up.

wish I could provide links to another "place" but the rules will not let me (not TVF fault)

You can however say what the place is and the name of the article you mention, for instance :

This mornings BKK Post has an opinion piece called 'clear and blunt' which is worth reading for farther insight into this issue.

[canuckamuck]

Clearly just a misunderstanding. Monks have no need for money or possessions, right? Took a vow and so on.

Edited February 27, 2015 by canuckamuck

[NeverSure]

The geniuses left a paper trail a mile wide. Uh, gee guys, that's not how you do it.

[NongKhaiKid]

A DSI probe ! Bound to put the s....s up all concerned. A list of acceptable excuses for not answering a summons is available on the DSI website.

[issanaus]

Every journey starts with a first step - I wonder where this journey will end up.

wish I could provide links to another "place" but the rules will not let me (not TVF fault)

You can however say what the place is and the name of the article you mention, for instance :

This mornings BKK Post has an opinion piece called 'clear and blunt' which is worth reading for farther insight into this issue.

There are a number of articles in the BKK post between the 23 and now. Slowly but surely there is a network of concern that encompasses. The Dhammakaya, SW Holdings (interesting to note where it is geographically located) The troubled Cooperative and the longstanding relationship with Wat Dhammkaya. The financial Co-operative located within the grounds of Wat Dhammakay and its relationship with the troubled Cooperative. The purpose of the Cooperative within the grounds - loans to individuals to make donations to make merit. ..... and, and, and

[rametindallas]

"The money was transferred to the abbot's personal bank account,"

I would suspect money laundering.

[Robby nz]

Every journey starts with a first step - I wonder where this journey will end up.

wish I could provide links to another "place" but the rules will not let me (not TVF fault)

You can however say what the place is and the name of the article you mention, for instance :

This mornings BKK Post has an opinion piece called 'clear and blunt' which is worth reading for farther insight into this issue.

There are a number of articles in the BKK post between the 23 and now. Slowly but surely there is a network of concern that encompasses. The Dhammakaya, SW Holdings (interesting to note where it is geographically located) The troubled Cooperative and the longstanding relationship with Wat Dhammkaya. The financial Co-operative located within the grounds of Wat Dhammakay and its relationship with the troubled Cooperative. The purpose of the Cooperative within the grounds - loans to individuals to make donations to make merit. ..... and, and, and

It would seem that these people have long thought themselves to be above the law and well protected.

This could be their undoing as they may not have bothered to cover their tracks, never considering that anyone would ever be looking into their activities.

As I wrote elsewhere, their many branches overseas would make it easy to move money out of the country and who knows where it went from there, as in money laundering.

A multi million or even billion "Donation" from a politician or Govt official is earmarked for use in building a temple in another country and is moved to a bank account in that country belonging to a patron, and all tax free.

[Manbing]

The headline had me all excited, until I found it was a monk not a prime minister being investigated.

[NeilSA1]

"...embezzling more than Bt12 billion from the cooperative. More than 10,000 people have suffered |as a result of the embezzlement...."

Disgusting. IMO this behavior is far worse when committed by purveyors of religion rather than mere politicians and their buddies.

I hope that the guilty are really punished regardless of their occupations and 'beliefs', and that the law is amended for future accountability.

[NeilSA1]

The headline had me all excited, until I found it was a monk not a prime minister being investigated.

. It seems a number of monks are currently being investigated. Any and all illegal acts should be investigated as a matter of course.

Were you really disappointed that " a prime minister was not being investigated" purely because of your personal views, regardless of the fact that damning evidence seems to be associated with this 'monk'.

[Manbing]

The headline had me all excited, until I found it was a monk not a prime minister being investigated.

. It seems a number of monks are currently being investigated. Any and all illegal acts should be investigated as a matter of course.

Were you really disappointed that " a prime minister was not being investigated" purely because of your personal views, regardless of the fact that damning evidence seems to be associated with this 'monk'.

Yes I was. Tony Abbot is the worst example of a pm, George w Bush seems positively statesmanlike by comparison.

[Lupatria]

"The money was transferred to the abbot's personal bank account,"

I would suspect money laundering.

Here is a just solution to the case:

[NeilSA1]

Everyone looks care free and happy in the pic

Yes, no doubt the monk is an old and venerable man who has had many years practice to perfect his persona.

Con men are usually successful in making those in their vicinity feel comfortable and relaxed.

[Benmart]

Everyone looks care free and happy in the pic

The photo is not dated and may have been taken before this revelation.

[Benmart]

Every journey starts with a first step - I wonder where this journey will end up.

wish I could provide links to another "place" but the rules will not let me (not TVF fault)

You can however say what the place is and the name of the article you mention, for instance :

This mornings BKK Post has an opinion piece called 'clear and blunt' which is worth reading for farther insight into this issue.

There are a number of articles in the BKK post between the 23 and now. Slowly but surely there is a network of concern that encompasses. The Dhammakaya, SW Holdings (interesting to note where it is geographically located) The troubled Cooperative and the longstanding relationship with Wat Dhammkaya. The financial Co-operative located within the grounds of Wat Dhammakay and its relationship with the troubled Cooperative. The purpose of the Cooperative within the grounds - loans to individuals to make donations to make merit. ..... and, and, and

It would seem that these people have long thought themselves to be above the law and well protected.

This could be their undoing as they may not have bothered to cover their tracks, never considering that anyone would ever be looking into their activities.

As I wrote elsewhere, their many branches overseas would make it easy to move money out of the country and who knows where it went from there, as in money laundering.

A multi million or even billion "Donation" from a politician or Govt official is earmarked for use in building a temple in another country and is moved to a bank account in that country belonging to a patron, and all tax free.

When man, money, belief and opportunity are brought together, often the result is greed, corruption and moral chaos.

[Stradavarius37]

Show me a religious man, and I will show you a con man.

[trogers]

Every journey starts with a first step - I wonder where this journey will end up.

wish I could provide links to another "place" but the rules will not let me (not TVF fault)

You can however say what the place is and the name of the article you mention, for instance :

This mornings BKK Post has an opinion piece called 'clear and blunt' which is worth reading for farther insight into this issue.

There are a number of articles in the BKK post between the 23 and now. Slowly but surely there is a network of concern that encompasses. The Dhammakaya, SW Holdings (interesting to note where it is geographically located) The troubled Cooperative and the longstanding relationship with Wat Dhammkaya. The financial Co-operative located within the grounds of Wat Dhammakay and its relationship with the troubled Cooperative. The purpose of the Cooperative within the grounds - loans to individuals to make donations to make merit. ..... and, and, and

It would seem that these people have long thought themselves to be above the law and well protected.

This could be their undoing as they may not have bothered to cover their tracks, never considering that anyone would ever be looking into their activities.

As I wrote elsewhere, their many branches overseas would make it easy to move money out of the country and who knows where it went from there, as in money laundering.

A multi million or even billion "Donation" from a politician or Govt official is earmarked for use in building a temple in another country and is moved to a bank account in that country belonging to a patron, and all tax free.

An army of 'Shaolin' fighting monks?

[halloween]

There are a number of articles in the BKK post between the 23 and now. Slowly but surely there is a network of concern that encompasses. The Dhammakaya, SW Holdings (interesting to note where it is geographically located) The troubled Cooperative and the longstanding relationship with Wat Dhammkaya. The financial Co-operative located within the grounds of Wat Dhammakay and its relationship with the troubled Cooperative. The purpose of the Cooperative within the grounds - loans to individuals to make donations to make merit. ..... and, and, and

On site loans to make merit! Hope this doesn't make world news or every church will have an ATM stuck in the wall near the door (if they already haven't, it's been a while).

Hmmm.........Do they have EFTPOS?

[Sarathi]

Note that the picture shows the acting Supreme Patriarch, who is NOT under investigation. It does not show Wat Dhammakaya, or the abbot of wat Dhammakaya.

[Artisi]

How the mighty fall, especially when they are immorally corrupt and have been ripping off their followers, because one day "enough becomes enough".

[AleG]

Every journey starts with a first step - I wonder where this journey will end up.

wish I could provide links to another "place" but the rules will not let me (not TVF fault)

You can however say what the place is and the name of the article you mention, for instance :

This mornings BKK Post has an opinion piece called 'clear and blunt' which is worth reading for farther insight into this issue.

That this sect and Thaksin have been thick as thieves for a long time is well documented, so no surprises there; on the other hand, that one Red Shirt leader (at least) chooses to defend that sect rather than the lay people that were defrauded... well, it's not surprising either.

[Robby nz]

The Gent who made the 'donations' of embezzled money is at present on the run in the UK where he has duel citizenship.

The temple has a long history of presence in the UK with several temples : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhammakaya_Movement_UK

How easy would it have been for some or all of these donations to be transferred to an account at one of the UK temples to be retrieved by the donor, say for instance on a 50/50 basis.

There is something like 12 billion that has been embezzled from the Uni fund, how much more of it was donated to the temple either directly or through proxies only to find its way to a "Temple building fund" overseas ?

The temple did say the donated money had already been used on temple building, where in the world did this building take place ?

While we are at it: By courtesy of Dr Weng we now know for sure of a symbiotic relationship between Thaksin, his red groups and the temple.

So there is an easy channel for money to be moved in both directions in the guise of religious donations to fund activities in Thailand such as MP's allowances or even things that happened in 2010, or to move it out. There is reputed to be quite a few billions missing from the rice pledging scheme alone.

No need for bags of money to be transported, all it needs is electronic transfers to various temple or monks accounts anywhere in the world.

Sure, speculation with no proof ........as yet, but give the DSI and AMLO time.

[maidee]

if he is lucky, he will be transferred to ... another temple

no worries

[issanaus]

Every journey starts with a first step - I wonder where this journey will end up.

wish I could provide links to another "place" but the rules will not let me (not TVF fault)

You can however say what the place is and the name of the article you mention, for instance :

This mornings BKK Post has an opinion piece called 'clear and blunt' which is worth reading for farther insight into this issue.

That this sect and Thaksin have been thick as thieves for a long time is well documented, so no surprises there; on the other hand, that one Red Shirt leader (at least) chooses to defend that sect rather than the lay people that were defrauded... well, it's not surprising either.

This afternoon BKK Post are reporting that the Office of the Attorney General is looking at the withdrawal of charges in 2006 - saying that the written reasons for the withdrawal should be available on Monday

[MaiChai]

Hopefully those found guilty will be taken to court and prosecuted, rather than just being disrobed?

[Robby nz]

Every journey starts with a first step - I wonder where this journey will end up.

wish I could provide links to another "place" but the rules will not let me (not TVF fault)

You can however say what the place is and the name of the article you mention, for instance :

This mornings BKK Post has an opinion piece called 'clear and blunt' which is worth reading for farther insight into this issue.

That this sect and Thaksin have been thick as thieves for a long time is well documented, so no surprises there; on the other hand, that one Red Shirt leader (at least) chooses to defend that sect rather than the lay people that were defrauded... well, it's not surprising either.

This afternoon BKK Post are reporting that the Office of the Attorney General is looking at the withdrawal of charges in 2006 - saying that the written reasons for the withdrawal should be available on Monday

These people must never in their most horrible nightmare considered that they would ever be investigated, after all they are the highest institution in the land, even royalty knees down before them.

Add to that they had protection from the political party that we are told by some posters on here 'could never lose an election' and of course through that connection they had the police on their side as well.

[Robby nz]

I see this morning in the BKK Post that the DSI has discovered that 11.3 billion of the embezzled money found its way to the temple.

This could turn into the biggest scandal Thailand has ever seen if the corrupt have been using that temple as an avenue for money laundering.