Phra Phromsuthi, the abbot of prestigious Wat Saket and a member of the Supreme Sangha Council, has been cleared of alleged misappropriation of the 67.5-million-baht state budget for the royal cremation of Somdet Phra Buddhachan, a former abbot of Wat Sa Ket and acting supreme patriarch, according to Matichon Online.
Chayapol Pongseeda, deputy director of the National Office of Buddhism, said the abbot had sent a letter to NOB director Panom Sornsilp detailing the expenditure of the 67.5 million baht budget.
The abbot showed documented evidence he had spent 42.3 million baht on the cremation and had 25.2 million baht left.
Attached to the letter to the NOB director was a Krungthai Bank cheque for 25.2 million baht payable on June 24.
Mr Chayapol said the NOB would forward the 25.2-million-baht cheque to the Finance Ministry and inform the Office of the Auditor General about it.
Phra Phromsuthi was now seen as having cleared himself of allegations of misappropriation and the investigation against him was closed, he said.
Mr Chayapol, however, said the Supreme Sangha Council had yet to decide on the matter of disciplinary action for the Wat Saket abbot.
The Office of the Auditor-General reported finding spending irregularities in the 67.5-million-baht budget for the funeral rites of Somdet Phra Buddhachan.
The investigation was launched after the People's Network Organisation for the Security of the Nation, Religion and the King lodged a complaint with the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) against Phra Phromsuthi.
The Office of the Auditor-General subsequently ordered Phra Phromsuthi, through the National Office of Buddhism, to return the money.