Post by Admin on Jul 22, 2017 3:08:03 GMT 7
A Thai court charged a disgraced former monk Thursday with the rape of an underage girl, fraud, and money laundering, after he was extradited from the United States.
Wirapol Sukphol, 38, was arrested on arrival at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport late Wednesday from the U.S., where he had established an unofficial Buddhist teaching center after fleeing Thailand in 2013.
He faces a total of five charges, including raping a minor under 15 years old, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years.
The Criminal Court announced the charges against Wirapol after he arrived. The ex-monk, who has denied the charges, was taken to Bangkok Remand Prison after the hearing. He did not apply for bail, according to his lawyer.
Wirapol made headlines in 2013 when footage emerged of him with two other monks on a private jet wearing sunglasses and wielding Louis Vuitton designer bags—earning him the tabloid moniker the “jet-setting monk.”
A subsequent probe seized USD770,000 (THB25.9 million) of his assets, including a Porsche and a Mercedes Benz, and multiple bank accounts.
He is suspected to have fathered a child with the girl he allegedly raped.
The scandal-mired cleric went by the name Luang Pu Nen Kham when he was ordained, and claimed to be the reincarnation of a famous miracle-performing monk.
His temple, in the rural town of Si Saket, disrobed him after the allegations surfaced and he fled the kingdom. But he continued to act as a monk, establishing his Buddhist center in California. In May, a U.S. court ordered his extradition after a request from Thai authorities.
A Thai court charged a disgraced former monk Thursday with the rape of an underage girl, fraud, and money laundering, after he was extradited from the United States.
Wirapol Sukphol, 38, was arrested on arrival at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport late Wednesday from the U.S., where he had established an unofficial Buddhist teaching center after fleeing Thailand in 2013.
He faces a total of five charges, including raping a minor under 15 years old, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years.
The Criminal Court announced the charges against Wirapol after he arrived. The ex-monk, who has denied the charges, was taken to Bangkok Remand Prison after the hearing. He did not apply for bail, according to his lawyer.
Wirapol made headlines in 2013 when footage emerged of him with two other monks on a private jet wearing sunglasses and wielding Louis Vuitton designer bags—earning him the tabloid moniker the “jet-setting monk.” A subsequent probe seized USD770,000 (THB25.9 million) of his assets, including a Porsche and a Mercedes Benz, and multiple bank accounts.
He is suspected to have fathered a child with the girl he allegedly raped.
The scandal-mired cleric went by the name Luang Pu Nen Kham when he was ordained, and claimed to be the reincarnation of a famous miracle-performing monk. His temple, in the rural town of Si Saket, disrobed him after the allegations surfaced and he fled the kingdom.
But he continued to act as a monk, establishing his Buddhist center in California.
In May, a U.S. court ordered his extradition after a request from Thai authorities.
Wirapol Sukphol, 38, was arrested on arrival at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport late Wednesday from the U.S., where he had established an unofficial Buddhist teaching center after fleeing Thailand in 2013.
He faces a total of five charges, including raping a minor under 15 years old, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years.
The Criminal Court announced the charges against Wirapol after he arrived. The ex-monk, who has denied the charges, was taken to Bangkok Remand Prison after the hearing. He did not apply for bail, according to his lawyer.
Wirapol made headlines in 2013 when footage emerged of him with two other monks on a private jet wearing sunglasses and wielding Louis Vuitton designer bags—earning him the tabloid moniker the “jet-setting monk.”
A subsequent probe seized USD770,000 (THB25.9 million) of his assets, including a Porsche and a Mercedes Benz, and multiple bank accounts.
He is suspected to have fathered a child with the girl he allegedly raped.
The scandal-mired cleric went by the name Luang Pu Nen Kham when he was ordained, and claimed to be the reincarnation of a famous miracle-performing monk.
His temple, in the rural town of Si Saket, disrobed him after the allegations surfaced and he fled the kingdom. But he continued to act as a monk, establishing his Buddhist center in California. In May, a U.S. court ordered his extradition after a request from Thai authorities.
A Thai court charged a disgraced former monk Thursday with the rape of an underage girl, fraud, and money laundering, after he was extradited from the United States.
Wirapol Sukphol, 38, was arrested on arrival at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport late Wednesday from the U.S., where he had established an unofficial Buddhist teaching center after fleeing Thailand in 2013.
He faces a total of five charges, including raping a minor under 15 years old, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years.
The Criminal Court announced the charges against Wirapol after he arrived. The ex-monk, who has denied the charges, was taken to Bangkok Remand Prison after the hearing. He did not apply for bail, according to his lawyer.
Wirapol made headlines in 2013 when footage emerged of him with two other monks on a private jet wearing sunglasses and wielding Louis Vuitton designer bags—earning him the tabloid moniker the “jet-setting monk.” A subsequent probe seized USD770,000 (THB25.9 million) of his assets, including a Porsche and a Mercedes Benz, and multiple bank accounts.
He is suspected to have fathered a child with the girl he allegedly raped.
The scandal-mired cleric went by the name Luang Pu Nen Kham when he was ordained, and claimed to be the reincarnation of a famous miracle-performing monk. His temple, in the rural town of Si Saket, disrobed him after the allegations surfaced and he fled the kingdom.
But he continued to act as a monk, establishing his Buddhist center in California.
In May, a U.S. court ordered his extradition after a request from Thai authorities.