Woman in Thailand was arrested for allegedly extorting celibate monks she was sleeping with.
Buddhist monks in Thailand have been hit hard in recent weeks by a scandal that alleges several of them were involved sexually with a woman who has been accused of extorting them to keep the violations of their vows of celibacy quiet.
There are at least nine abbots and senior monks who have been disrobed and kicked out of the monkhood, reports the NY Post. The woman at the center of it all was also arrested on Tuesday and faces several charges.
Wilawan Emsawat was arrested at her home on charges that include extortion, money laundering and receiving stolen goods. Police say she deliberately targeted senior monks for financial gain.
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The police also claim they were able to find that several monks had transferred large amounts of money to her after she initiated relationships with them. How much money are we talking? Monks aren’t loaded, are they?
Over the past three years, Wilawan has received 385 million baht in her bank accounts. That’s roughly $11.9 million. Who knew, aside from this woman, that monks had that much money just lying around to spend on keeping a sex scandal quiet?
The woman blew through most of the allegedly extorted funds
Don’t worry about the millions she racked up, it went to a good cause, according to the police. Most of it was spent on online gambling sites.
The whole scheme was uncovered after an investigation was launched last month following an abbot at a famous temple in Bangkok calling it quits and leaving the monkhood unexpectedly.
The investigation found that the abbot had allegedly been blackmailed by Wilawan. She told the monk that she was pregnant and wanted him to hand over 7.2 million baht.
A search of her home by police reportedly uncovered more than 80,000 photos and videos of her encounters with the monks, according to The Daily Beast.
I think it would be unfair to claim that she didn’t work hard for the money she received. 80,000 photos and videos aren’t created out of thin air. That takes work. If only she had been able to focus her energy on something positive.
The monks wrapped up in the scandal are mostly members of the Theravada sect, according to the NY Post. This specific sect requires them to be celibate and refrain from even touching a woman.