Senior monk faces temple fund theft rap

Senior monk faces temple fund theft rap

Cleric suspected of stealing B110m

NAKHON NAYOK: Police arrested a deputy chief monk of the province yesterday on suspicion of stealing 110 million baht over nine years from local temple funds in collusion with a missing former chief of the National Office of Buddhism.

Police searched the living quarters of Phra Sitthi Woranayok, abbot of Wat Khao Durian in tambon Khao Phra of Muang district, at about 6am yesterday. The abbot is also the deputy monastic chief of Nakhon Nayok.

He was charged with embezzling about 110 million baht of development funds intended for local temples from 2007 to 2016 in a conspiracy with Nopparat Benjawatananun, the missing person.

Police said the two men had disbursed 123 million baht from government coffers during the nine-year period that were…