The DSI letter was sent to the National Office of Buddhism, the chief monk of the Central Regional Sangha Administration and the chief monk of the Pathum Thani provincial Sangha Administration.
If the abbot fails to surrender, senior monks must participate in operations to arrest him, DSI chief Pol Colonel Paisit Wongmuang said yesterday.
Phra Dhammachayo faces charges of money laundering and receiving stolen assets linked to an embezzlement case involving the Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative (KCUC).
Paisit said he had also sent a letter to the acting abbot of Wat Dhammakaya asking if Phra Dhammachayo was still in the monastic compound and requiring a prompt written reply.
If the fugitive monk was still there, it was the acting abbot’s duty to hand him over to DSI investigators, he said. Otherwise, the acting abbot could face two criminal charges, he added.
Paisit said the agency would await the senior monks’ replies before deciding on their next move in the hunt for Phra Dhammachayo.
The Attorney-General’s Office last week announced its decision to indict Phra Dhammachayo and four others on charges of money laundering and receiving stolen assets. It asked the DSI to arrest the monk before the statute of limitations for the alleged 2009 crimes expires in 2024.
The director of the office’s Department of Special Litigation, Wongsakul Kittiphrom-wong, said yesterday prosecutors would today indict three former KCUC executives – Supachai Srisupa-aksorn, Saranya Manmad and Thongpin Kanlorm – on charges of conspiracy to launder money and money laundering.
However, if Saranya and Thongpin, who are out on bail, fail to present themselves for indictment along with the incarcerated Supachai, the filing of charges would be postponed, he added.
In a related development, the DSI’s Special Case Office 3 deputy chief Pol Lt-Colonel Sansana Kaewtabtim yesterday submitted six documents pertaining to another KCUC-linked money laundering case, as well as investigators’ recommendations to public prosecutors.
The prosecutors set January 10 to decide whether to indict eight individuals and one company.
The suspects are Supachai; former KCUC secretary Lapas Somkham; Saranya; Samphan Sermcheep, a Dhammakaya temple lawyer who reportedly held a board position at M-Home Co in 2009; former M-Home Co executives Chamlong Thabsuwan, Banleu Kongchai, Thawatkit Thananan-trakul and Kornthatan Thananantrakul; and M-Home Co itself.
The case stemmed from Supachai and other suspects allegedly using money from the cooperative to buy shares at the company as well as M-Home’s three plots of land worth Bt321 million in Pathum Thani in an alleged attempt to launder money.
Phra Dhammachayo is also subject to a new arrest warrant in a case involving the World Peace Valley Khao Yai monastic retreat, which allegedly encroached on state-owned land in Nakhon Ratchasima.
Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division commander Pol Maj-General Worapong Thongpaiboon and other senior officers went to the Klong Luang police station yesterday afternoon to submit a letter asking for cooperation in arresting the wanted abbot for a Nakhon Ratchasima land encroachment case before Friday.