Wat Phra Dhammakaya used a nominee to occupy some of the land plots where its three meditation facilities are located on Phangnga's Yao Noi Island, which encroached on forest land, police say.
Speaking after inspecting the 137-rai "Muktawan 1" meditation facility on the island Wednesday, deputy national police chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said a 54-year-old man from Loei, Pet Kansap, occupied four land plots there.
He was assigned by the Dhammakaya Foundation to hold the land plots and he is also linked with forest encroachment by the temple's meditation facility in Loei, Pol Gen Srivara said. The deputy police chief said the Muktawan 1 facility occupies 40 rai of land which has no land right documents and 21 rai of which is forest reserve land.
Meditation tourists enjoy morning exercise at a Dhammakaya Foundation Muktawan resort at Yao Noi Island. (Main photo via 'The Middle Way Meditation Institute')
Pol Gen Srivara said the Dhammakaya Foundation claims it has Nor Sor 3 Gor land documents covering 33 plots of 140 rai of land where the facility is located. Of them, 28 land plots are owned by the foundation, four by Mr Pet and another plot by a woman, he said, citing the foundation.
On Aug 19, 2006, the foundation, chaired by former abbot Phra Dhammajayo, transferred the land to Mr Pet, Pol Gen Srivara said. The foundation has 13 executive members, including nine monks.
Officials will also examine whether 18 buildings in Muktawan 1 were built lawfully and check whether the Koh Yao tambon administration organisation gave the permits illegally, he said.
He said suspicion had arisen over the issuance of the Nor Sor 3 Gor documents. Only two rai of land was believed to be originally occupied by the foundation, but it rose to about 15 rai in 1996.
Pol Gen Srivara said the Dhammakaya Foundation was found to have sold packages for practising dhamma, ranging from 1,900 baht to 5,900 baht, which means it exploits the forest for its own benefit.
The Revenue Department has been told to investigate the foundation's tax payments.
The deputy police chief said Mr Pet was also alleged to be the owner of the 162 rai of land sheltering the Muktawan 2 facility on the island, but the investigation found 82 rai of it has no land rights documents and is in the forest reserve.
The investigation into the 100-rai Muktawan 3 nearby also found 44 rai of this facility has no land right documents and is situated in the forest reserve, he said.
The TAO also reported that 82 structures in the three facilities were built without permits and they will be seized later, Pol Gen Srivara said.
According to police sources, blocks of wood were placed on the routes leading to the facilities and this was believed to be the work of people allied with the temple to obstruct officials from surveying the areas.
Meanwhile, Ong-art Thamnitha, the spokesman for Dhammakaya sect disciples, failed to report Wednesday to Thung Song Hong police on charges of defaming the Department of Special Investigation (DSI).
The DSI handled Phra Dhammajayo's money laundering case in connection with the multi-billion-baht Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative embezzlement scandal.
Police said they will issue another summons and, if he still fails to turn himself in, he will face an arrest warrant.
