The Appeal Court yesterday upheld an eight-month jail term, suspended for one year, for the former abbot of Wat Sam Phraya, Phra Phrom Dilok, over his alleged involvement in the temple fund embezzlement scandal.
The former abbot, whose layman's name is Uan Klinsalee, was found guilty by the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases in March last year of aiding state officials in committing malfeasance.
Phra Phrom Dilok: Jail term upheld
The charge was related to the spending of a 3.5-million-baht budget that was set aside by the National Office of Buddhism (NOB) to finance the construction of temple buildings in 2014. The fund was, however, found to be part of an embezzlement scam involving NOB officials.
He was originally given a one-year prison term but the sentence was reduced to eight months, suspended for one year. He was also fined 8,000 baht.
In upholding the ruling, the Appeal Court said the former Phra Phrom Dilok was a senior monk who had the authority to examine budget spending plans, so his claim that he was unaware that the funds were ill-gotten was not credible.
Annop Boonsawang, the defence lawyer, said his client would appeal.
There were two other cases involving alleged money-laundering against the former abbot -- one in the Criminal Court and the other in the Civil Court.
Last year, the Appeal Court overturned the lower court ruling and acquitted the former abbot of colluding to launder money. According to the court, the use of the money to construct other temple buildings did not constitute an act of money laundering.
As for the civil lawsuit, the court ordered the seizure of his assets worth 1.7 million baht. The ex-abbot appealed the order after the acquittal.
The former abbot, who was forced to quit the monkhood when he was detained in prison, yesterday turned up in court wearing his saffron robe. This triggered questions over whether he could be defrocked.