A 35-year-old woman was arrested for ‘seducing’ celibate monks before extorting millions of dollars from them to keep it secret.
Wirawan Emsawat’s home was raided by police on 4 July as part of an investigation into a monk named Arch who went missing in the Wat Tri Thotsathep temple in Thailand.
The investigation led police to believe that Arch had been the victim of a fraud or love affair scheme involving Wirawan.
When her home was searched, police found 80,000 p*rnorgaphic images and files, five mobile phones and evidence showing she engaged in s*xual acts with some top monks as well as politicians. As many as 9 monks have since been derobbed.
One image showed a monk still wearing his sacred robes and snuggled up to Wirawan in a bed while another showed a monk getting dressed after what appeared to be a romantic encounter.
Wirawan admitted to police that she had been blackmailing the men in order to extort money, even having children with some of her victims.
She was arrested on charges of money laundering, extortion and receiving stolen goods.
Over the past three years, her bank account showed she had received 385 million baht ($11.9 million) from her victims.
Police have since claimed most of her money went to fund her gambling addiction online.
Police Major General Charoonkiat Pankaew, deputy commissioner of the Cybercrime Investigation Bureau, has shared that over 12 temples were being monitored in connection with the crime. “The scandals required further police investigation and action to ensure that the monastic institution remains composed solely of monks who uphold moral discipline.
“We have no intention of undermining Buddhism. However, we urge monks across the country to exercise caution when taking part in religious activities that involve laywomen.
“These individuals may present themselves as generous donors, wealthy benefactors or socialites, yet some may in fact be fraudsters seeking to gain the monks’ trust, engaging them in conversations via Line or telephone and secretly recording clips.”
The National Office of Buddhism has suggested jail time of up to seven years and a fine of up to 140,000 baht ($4,303) for any monks who are expelled. They have also suggested the same penalty for civilians who knowingly engage in s*xual acts with monks, sworn to celibacy.