The former abbot of Wat Sam Phraya, Phra Phrom Dilok, has been sentenced to six months in jail for his involvement in the temple fund embezzlement scandal.
Prosecutors said the former abbot and his secretary, Phra Atthakit Sophon, breached money laundering laws by misusing the 3.5-million-baht budget set aside by the National Office of Buddhism (NOB) to finance the construction of a Phra Pariyatti Dhamma School.
Instead, the court was told, the pair used the money on construction of other temple buildings -- including new living quarters for the monks.
The court also heard that no Phra Pariyatti Dhamma school was ever built on Wat Sam Phraya's grounds.
In defence, the pair said they had no idea that the budget was earmarked for building the school.
According to the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases' ruling, the pair could have not misunderstood the purpose of the earmarked budget.
The ruling argued that Phra Phrom Dilok and Phra Atthakit Sophon would have been asked to sign documents by the NOB, which clearly outlined the purpose of the budget.
The court sentenced Phra Phrom Dilok to six months in prison for his role in the scandal, but the court dropped the abuse of authority charge as he did not withdraw the money himself.
Phra Atthakit Sophon was handed a three-year jail sentence because of his active role in the scheme.
Annop Boonsawang, a lawyer of the defendants, said they would appeal the ruling. The financial support for Phra Pariyatti Dhamma schools is usually handed in cash to temples, and the amounts are based on student head counts.
However, in this case the NOB delivered a cheque to the temple -- leading the defendants to mistakenly believe the fund was intended for the construction of temple buildings, which they had also requested, Mr Annop said.