Police are poised to act against state officials and monks in their third crackdown on another 10 temples allegedly involved in siphoning more than 100 million baht from a Buddhism development fund.
New clues on the embezzlement scandal, widely known as the "change money" scheme, are at hand and it now depends on when the Central Investigation Bureau will trigger the new clampdown, Counter-Corruption Division chief Kamol Rienracha said Wednesday after meeting his superiors at the CIB headquarters.
Nobody has complained regarding the latest alleged irregularities so investigators now have to wait for the CIB to ask the National Office of Buddhism, which manages the fund, to lodge a complaint, Pol Maj Gen Kamol said.
"There are more than 10 suspects, both old and new," he said without disclosing their names.
In two previous rounds of investigation, the Counter-Corruption Division implicated officials attached to the office as well as other monks and civilians in the embezzlement, which resulted in losses of more than 200 million baht.
More than 30 temples are believed to have been involved in the deceit, in which they sent a large share of the fund to gangs even though it was intended to help with temple maintenance costs as well as promoting Buddhism.
The scandal, which surfaced last year, is one of many to embroil state officials of late. Others include the embezzlement of budgets for underprivileged people through state-run welfare centres, and pilfered scholarships for poor students under the Sema Phatthana Chiwit Fund.
Government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd vowed to root out graft, citing the regime's successes in this area to date.
The cabinet has also agreed to strengthen its fight against corruption by having state agency chiefs launch 30-day probes whenever irregularities are detected.
They can "immediately impose disciplinary punishments without waiting for criminal proceedings", Lt Gen Sansern said.
Those guilty of serious misconduct will be "removed".