Court gives reprieve to abbot

THE Criminal Court refused to issue an arrest warrant yesterday for Phra Dhammachayo, abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, who has twice cited health problems to explain his failure to report to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI). 

  The court ruled on the basis that the monk is ill and has not shown any intention to flee. 

The DSI sought the arrest warrant on grounds that Phra Dhammachayo may be attempting to evade legal proceedings, given that he appears to have continued his religious work without a problem. 

Samphan Sermcheep, Phra Dhammachayo’s lawyer, told the court yesterday that the monk had fallen ill on Friday and would need 15 days to recover. 

Three doctors accompanying Samphan confirmed the abbot’s health condition. 

“The monk fell ill from carrying out his religious works on April 22, which is why he could not answer the DSI summons on Monday,” Samphan said. 

The DSI has summoned the monk twice, most recently telling him to turn himself in on Monday to acknowledge charges of collusion in relation to alleged money laundering and receiving ill-gotten gains. The charges relate to cheques he received from Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative’s former chairman Supachai Srisupa-aksorn, who is accused of embezzling billions of baht from the cooperative.

After Supachai’s embezzlement was exposed, Phra Dhammachayo returned hundreds of millions of baht to the cooperative and has since insisted that he could not have known that Supachai had donated embezzled funds. 

DSI chief Paisit Wongmuang said legal proceedings against Phra Dhammachayo continued despite his return of the money since the damage had already been done if he had colluded in the crime. 

“While the civil part of the case can end upon the return of the money, the criminal part can’t,” Paisit said yesterday.

He added that a woman suspected of involvement in the case had already fled the country. 

The DSI will today issue a third summons for Phra Dhammachayo, requiring him to turn himself in on May 16.    

In another high-profile case involving the clergy, the DSI has been investigating a controversial case related to a Mercedes-Benz that was formerly registered under the name of acting Supreme Patriarch, Somdej Chuang. 

Paisit said the DSI would not object to bail being posted by one of the suspects in the case, Kasemsak Pawangkhanan, because he cooperated with investigators. Kasemsak, who owns the business that imported the Mercedes-Benz’s engine, was arrested on Monday evening. 

The DSI said the evidence suggests that laws had been violated at many steps in the process to assemble and register the Mercedes that was given to Somdej Chuang, who is formally known as Somdej Phra Maha Ratchamangalacharn. 

After the vehicle was implicated in the scandal, Somdej Chuang returned it to the monk who gave it to him.