Found by 7d
BANGKOK (Reuters) – A Thai Buddhist monk shot dead this week had amassed a $5 million fortune in 12 bank accounts from years of extortion and was on a government blacklist of influential “mafia” figures, police said on Friday.
Investigators said the monk, Phra Kru Nanthapiwat, murdered execution-style by an unidentified assailant on Tuesday, had been earning as much as one million baht ($24,030) a week by embezzling temple funds and running illegal motorcycle taxi gangs.
The monk, who had been at the temple on the outskirts of Bangkok for 36 years, also promoted himself as a spiritual medium who could dispel bad luck in exchange for money, police said.
Statements by members of the local community to police said the monk had frequently violated monastery rules, including luring female followers to his living quarters.
