More than 700 million baht in embezzled donations from Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative had already been spent on the construction of buildings at Wat Phra Dhammakaya, and they could not be seized, the chief of the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) said on Friday.
Amlo secretary-general Seehanat Prayoonrat said investigators had finished their inquiries into the payments of money from the management of the cooperative by cheques. They concluded that Supachai Srisupa-aksorn, former chairman of the cooperative, had given many cheques to the temple and each payment had exceeded 100 million baht.
Pol Col Seehanat said that staff of Wat Phra Dhammakaya had presented evidence proving that the donated money had been used to pay for construction of religious buildings at the temple. He said Amlo had no power to seize monastic property.
The cheques issued by the largest co-operative in Thailand, which is now financially troubled, were handed over to the richest Buddhist temple in the country, located on four square kilometres on land in Pathum Thani province.
They were among 878 cheques that Mr Supachai, the first and former chairman of the cooperative and now a fugitive, approved for the transfer of more than 11 billion baht from the co-operative to other accounts. He is on the wanted list as a major embezzler.
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) had formed three new investigative teams to look into financial transactions of the Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative and its regulations and other activities since its establishment in 1986, said deputy justice permanent secretary Dusadee Arawuit. Amlo was also a party to the investigations.
Authorities would also look into whether there were any falsely registered phantom cooperative members who voted to facilitate the embezzlement.
Heading one of the investigative teams, Pol Lt Col Pakorn Sucheewakul, the DSI's director for financial and banking crime, said that cheques worth over 700 million baht from Mr Supachai had been payable to both Wat Phra Dhammakaya and its abbot Phra Dhammachayo. He would summon the abbot for questioning.
The Klongchan Credit Union has over 52,000 members with registered deposits of more than 21 billion baht. Many place their life savings there, hoping to earn the 10% interest rate it offered, and their dreams have been shattered by the theft of the 11 billion baht. The cooperative is undergoing financial rehabilitation.