Police have set October 28 as the deadline for people who have in their possession about 100 title deeds, to between 320 and 480 hectares of land belonging to Phra Bat Namphu Temple, to return them to the temple or face legal action.
Pol Maj-Gen Charoonkiat Pankaew, deputy commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, who is in charge of investigating the assets of the temple, told the media today that about 700 sets of deeds have already been returned to the temple, with 100 outstanding.
In addition to the title deeds, he said that police have been trying to recover the temple’s other assets, worth several billion baht, including cash, cars and other valuables, believed to in the possession of over 10 people who are closely related to the former temple’s abbot, Phra Alongkot, who left the monkhood after massive irregularities at the temple were exposed.
Charoonkiat said that a celebrity, who was “closely involved” with the temple’s funds, has met with police investigators and has returned about 500,000 baht in cash, in an effort to demonstrate his honesty, adding that the celebrity will, however, still be questioned.
