DSI to question abbot, top monks this week
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Investigation into credit union embazzlement case gathers pace
THIS will be a busy week for the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) as the agency is set to interrogate key witnesses, including Dhammakaya Temple abbot Phra Dhammachayo, over the more than Bt16 billion embezzled from the Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative.
The questioning will be part of an investigation into the case in which the cooperative’s then-president Supachai Srisupa-aksorn was accused of embezzling the money from the institution. He has been charged with public fraud and embezzlement.
The credit union has filed civil lawsuits against him demanding he return all the money. It has also filed a number of criminal lawsuits against the Pathum Thani-based temple and a number of monks who received massive donations from Supachai while he was serving as its president.
The DSI has invited at least 47 individuals and legal entities to come forward for questioning, a DSI source said yesterday.
In this coming week, DSI investigators are scheduled to question witnesses from the Dhammakaya Temple. Dhammachayo is expected to meet investigators on Tuesday.
Senior monk Phra Khru Palat Vijahn Thirangku is scheduled to be questioned tomorrow, followed by another monk, Phra Montri Sudapaso, on Wednesday.
A former Dhammakaya monk, Sataporn Wattanasirinukul, who now runs a business, is expected to meet the investigators on Friday.
They are among three groups of people and organisation representatives to be questioned as part of the DSI investigation. The second group consists of 32 legal entitles to which the embezzled money was transferred. And the third group includes businesses paid for their services.
Their representatives are to be questioned at the DSI later this month, according to the source.
The DSI has charged those who accepted cheques from Supachai with obtaining stolen goods, the source said.
The department will also look into Supachai’s tax records, as it is suspected he claimed tax deductions for amounts of over Bt1 billion donated to temples, another DSI source said.
The source said that while Supachai was serving as head of the Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative, he lured about Bt8 billion in deposits from 82 other cooperatives all over the country, including many of Thailand’s largest. He offered a dividend of 10 per cent a year, which is higher than the allowed maximum rate of 7 per cent.
