A fraudster is being investigated in Thailand for seducing at least 12 senior Buddhist monks and temple abbots and defrauding them of 385 million baht (about 20 million leva), the Daily Star reports.
The scandal began to flare up in June after the abbot of a temple in central Bangkok suddenly resigned, cut ties with his family and left Thailand. Since the cleric was quite well-known in the spiritual community, an investigation was quickly launched. It soon became clear that he had left the temple because he was being blackmailed by a woman nicknamed Golf, with whom he had a sexual relationship.
The fraudster's name turned out to be Vilawan Emsawat, and her victims included many clergymen. Officers from Thailand's Central Bureau of Investigation found that over three years, monks who had taken a vow of celibacy had transferred hundreds of millions of baht to the fraudster in order to hide their relationships with her. During the search, five smartphones containing incriminating material were confiscated from Emsawat. She filmed herself having "various types of sex" with the monks.
During the investigation, it was revealed that Emsawat only had about 44,000 baht left in her accounts. According to Sky News, the woman spent most of the money obtained through fraud on gambling at an online casino.
One of Emsawat's former lovers has disappeared and has not contacted his family or the police.