The woman allegedly at the centre of sex scandals, in which more than 20 senior monks are implicated, was arrested today, at her luxury residence in Nonthaburi, on charges of money laundering, receiving stolen items and abetting the abuse of authority by officials.
The arrest of Wilawan Emsawat, aka “Golf”, comes as the Thai monastic circle is being rocked by an unprecedented number of recent sex scandals, in which senior monks are alleged to have had close or intimate relationships with Wilawan.
Pol Maj-Gen Charoonkiat Pankaew, the deputy commissioner of Central Investigation Bureau, told the media today that investigators have found evidence that Wilawan received 380,000 baht from the former abbot of Chuchitthammaram Temple in Ayutthaya province, Phra Thep Phatcharaporn.
Meanwhile, it is reported that anti-corruption police have filed embezzlement and malfeasance in office charges against the former abbot, related to the 380,000 baht he allegedly transferred her from the temple’s bank account.
During questioning, the former abbot is reported to have admitted that he had initially transferred a total of 12.8 million baht to Wilawan from his own bank account, before he used the temple’s bank account to send her an additional 380,000 baht, because she claimed that she needed the money to invest in a ceramics business.
He reportedly claimed that Wilawan has returned some of the money to him.
