DSI probes KCUC case proxies
DSI will summon a lawyer representing Wat Phra Dhammakaya and three board members of a company today on charges of money laundering.
The alleged crimes are linked to the multibillion baht Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative (KCUC) embezzlement scandal.
Lawyer Samphan Sermcheep and other suspects were accused of acting as a proxy for KCUC chairman Supachai Srisupaksorn,holding shares of M-Home Co.
Mr Supachai, who bought the shares,admitted siphoning money from cooperative's accounts in 2013. Supachai has been sentenced by the Criminal Court to 16 years in jail.
Pol Lt Col Bantoon Chimgra, director of the DSI's Bureau of Speacial Crime 3,said the four held the shares for sometime before transferring them to Supachai.
Mr Samphan was earlier called in to explain the process of holding and transferring the shares, but the lawyer asked to submit an explanation later,Pol Lt Col Bantoon said.
A DSI source said an investigation also found Mr Supachai hired a private operator to install a stdio room at Wat Phra Dhammakaya at a cost of about two million baht .
A cheque worth 1.8 million baht was seen to have been paid to the company,but about 50,000 baht was transferred to the monks will be asked to give their statements on the matter
Meanwhile, the royal Forest department (RFD) is investigation 70 branches of the Wat Phra Dhammakaya Network.
The department wants to establish whether the monasteries have encroached on forest land.