Former assistant abbot of Wat Samphanthawongsaram Phra Phrommedhi, who is wanted on embezzlement charges, has been arrested in Germany after having escaped an arrest warrant in Thailand two weeks ago via the Laotian border.
Phra Phrommedhi, now known as Chamnong Dhammajari after he was stripped of monastic rank by His Majesty the King, was reported to have failed in passing an immigration check at Frankfurt airport after German immigration authorities were alerted of the arrest warrant issued by Thai Interpol.
According to Thai Interpol, they had alerted several foreign countries via Interpol that Phra Phrommedhi was a wanted fugitive.
Phra Phrommedhi and several other high-ranking monks are accused of embezzling state funds for temples. Five senior monks were stripped of monastic ranks by the King, and five have been arrested on May 24.
Phra Prommedhi and former abbot of Wat Sa Ket Phra Phromsitti, however, managed to escape.
But Phra Phromsitti, now known only as Thongchai Sukkho, turned himself up to police last week.
However, Phra Phrommedhi had escaped via the Laotian border from Nakhon Phanom with help from his disciple.
The disciple who is a local businesswoman was detained for questioning by police.
According to her confession, she helped the monk cross over the Mekong River from Nakhon Phanom to Laos and from there to Cambodia and Vietnam. From the Ho Chi Minh airport, he boarded a flight to Qatar. And from Qatar, he flew to Germany.
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