The Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University's Khon Kaen campus (MCUKK), a Buddhist public university, is investigating whether one of its student monks was connected to a Ponzi scheme preying on monks in the Northeast.
It was reported that victims -- mostly monks -- lost money in the pyramid scheme known as "Ban Share Nong Carrot".
The company encouraged participants to recruit new members to join the network, which claimed to trade shares of companies. Each member was required to invest an equivalent of at least 300,000 baht.
The scheme, which allegedly ran a meditation retreat programme, is alleged to have deceived monks into investing.
Saktinan Srihabong, director of the MCUKK office, told the media on Tuesday that he was unaware of the rumoured scam until it went viral on social media.
The university was investigating whether one of the three monks pictured at one of the scheme's gatherings was involved in the scam.
However, the monk is on a religious trip outside the province and has been unavailable to discuss the matter.
Mr Saktinan added that the college plans to organise special educational programmes to teach monks how to keep up with technology and avoid being deceived.
"I think if it is true that monks were taking donations from the public to use in an investment scheme, it would be highly inappropriate," he said.
Meanwhile, Supoj Damronglerdtrakun, a local resident and representative of the victims, presented supporting evidence to the media.
His findings showed that the Ponzi scheme office is located at a resort in tambon Sila in Muang district of Khon Kaen. The resort has been sold to a new owner.
The WCF (Worldclass Financial Intelligence) broker is alleged to have conducted the scheme, which encourages people to invest by creating a network of members.
He said the WCF claimed it could trade US dollars, but it was not certified.
In the beginning, there were three victims. The owner of WCF later contacted them and agreed to provide refunds ranging from 300,000 to 900,000 baht each.
A source said there are still no video or audio clips indicating that monks were persuaded to invest in the trading scam, and the matter is being investigated by the Khon Kaen Provincial Office of Buddhism.
