Somsak Toraksa, a legal adviser for abbot Phra Dhamma Rattanamongkhon, said the monk was told the money would go to poorer monasteries.

“He did so upon the instructions of Pranom Kongpikul, the head of the Buddhist Monastery Division,” he said. “She had assured him that everything was legal. She said the money would be used to help other temples.”

Somsak said Pranom contacted Phra Dhamma Rattanamongkhon in 2013, offering to request Bt10 million in funds for renovation of the temple in exchange for his promise that he would hand over Bt8 million to help cash-strapped temples.

She made a similar offer in late 2014, requesting a Bt5-million share for other temples from a further Bt10 million in funding.

The abbot transferred Bt8 million to Chompunuch Janruechai’s bank account and Bt5 million to Pranom’s account in 2014, based on Pranom’s instruction, Somsak said.

The abbot has started legal action against Pranom after information suggested she did not give the money to other temples, Somsak said. “If we get this amount of money back from her, we will hand it back to the NBO,” he said.

The NBO is involved in a scandal as some officials have allegedly embezzled money from the state budget for temple renovations.

Mit Suwanrat, a senior official at the Auditor-General’s Office, has said the investigation would have to expand to include thousands of temples across the country because available evidence suggested several officials at the NBO may have engaged in corrupt practices for years.

Probes suggest some NBO officials allegedly demanded that portions of the temple-renovation budget should be returned. The losses to the state were estimated at Bt60 million.

Counter-Corruption Division chief Pol Maj General Kamol Rienracha said yesterday that corruption money had changed hands.

“We will pore over the financial flow. Any person implicated will be charged with money laundering,” he said.

He said his division’s investigation would cover between 60 and 70 temples across the country, and the Anti-Money Laundering Office would be asked to check the financial transactions and assets of suspects.

Kamol said his division would not take action against temples in Chumphon province that have already been investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

About 26 temples in Chumphon received a renovation budget and at least four agreed to demands to return some of the cash. It remains unclear whether these four temples colluded in the corruption or were simply duped into returning part of the money.

Chumphon’s monastic chief Phra Ratchawijit Patipan said monks and temples were unlikely to know the officials’ tricks. “These officials come from the NBO,” he said.