And some of the 173 cases involved temples that repeatedly applied for maintenance funds that were diverted to corrupted officials. The Royal Thai Police Counter-Corruption Division is expected to wrap up investigation of the 173 cases this coming week. The CNAC would also co-ordinate with supervisors of accused officials from the National Office of Buddhism, to ensure disciplinary action is taken against the accused officials in parallel with criminal prosecution. Saying that the CNAC actions focused on the officials involved in the wrongdoing, Prayong said there were no clear evidence to incriminate monks. Prayong said officers would have to probe further to prove that monks had an intention to participate in accounting dishonesty and wiring of funds to corrupt officials.

Source: The Nation Bangkok September 23, 2017 10:30 UTC