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Nine people, including seven Buddhist monks, were arrested after being accused of embezzling nearly $9 million in donations to the Wat Pa Thammakhiri temple in the Nakhon Ratchasima province of Thailand.
Last week, police arrested the temple abbot and famous monk, Kom Kongkaew, accusing them of stealing $5.3 million of the temple's money. Police said that Kongkaew and the abbot withdrew money from the temple's bank account and gave it to Kongkaew's sister so she could deposit it into her account. Officials said she had $3.8 million in the account, plus an additional $1.5 million cash at her home.
Authorities said that after Kongkaew was taken into custody, he told the other monks to hide other assets that were still in the temple.
On Tuesday (May 9), authorities conducted an early morning raid at the temple and uncovered additional assets worth about $2.9 million that were hidden by the suspects. They seized cash and jewelry, some of which were buried underground and in the monks' private quarters.
They took six monks and a driver into custody. They are all being held without bond over concerns that they might tamper with evidence or flee if they are released ahead of their trial.