Thailand ex-monk gets 50 years in prison for stealing donations

A court in Thailand found former influential Buddhist monk Alongkot Punmuk guilty of large-scale fraud, money laundering and embezzlement of hospice funds for people with HIV/AIDS, sentenced him to a maximum term under the law of 50 years in prison, India Today reports.

According to the investigation, the rector of the famous Wat Phra Bat Namphu monastery in the province of Lopburi, together with an accomplice, systematically withdrew donations of believers to false accounts. The hospice, established in 1992 as a cutting-edge humanitarian project to help outcast patients, enjoyed national respect, but the audit uncovered embezzlements worth more than $9 million. The total estimated term of the convict was hundreds of years, but was automatically reduced to the limit of the legislation of the Kingdom.

The scandal dealt a heavy blow to the reputation of the country's religious charities. Thai authorities are stepping up audits of temple finances and donations declaration procedures.

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