Thursday, February 16, 2017

"Thai police left empty handed after a day-long search of a massive Buddhist temple for a monk wanted over a multi-million-dollar scam"

Yah:
The former abbot is believed to be holed up inside the compound, which is famous for its space-age architecture, though he has not been seen in public for months.

Police issued a warrant for his arrest last year on charges of money laundering and accepting embezzled funds worth 1.2 billion baht ($33 million) from the jailed owner of a cooperative bank.

Previous attempts to raid the temple have been thwarted after thousands of devotees showed up to defend the elderly abbot.

...

In a day of high drama and stagecraft, some 4,000 unarmed police and soldiers descended on the site before dawn, locking down roads leading to the compound.