The Department of Provincial Administration (DOPA) has been ordered to investigate why Aids hospice Wat Phrabatnampu used a dead man's ID to open an account to receive public donations.
Interior permanent secretary Unsit Sampuntharat said on Monday that the department would conduct a deep investigation into Wat Phrabatnampu's use of a dead man’s name and ID number.
He referred to the temple's account operated as the Arthorn Prachanart fund. Arthorn Prachanart was formerly a monk known as Luang Phor Alongkot and until his recent resignation was abbot of the Aids hospice temple.
Mr Unsit said he instructed the Department of Provincial Administration to complete the probe and report its findings in two weeks.
On Sunday, the department announced on Facebook that the ID number x-xxxx-xx796-46-3 of the late Alongkot Polmuk was used to open a PromptPay account for use as a temple fund.
DOPA also said Luang Phor Alongkot, the 65-year-old former abbot of Wat Phrabatnampu, changed his lay name from Kriengkrai Phetkaew to Alongkot Pulmuk in 2009.
The name is almost identical to the deceased man's name, differing only in the slight variation in family names - Polmuk and Pulmuk.
Mr Unsit confirmed that they were two different people. Luang Phor Alongkot, aka Alongkot Pulmuk, was born in 1960. The late Alongkot Polmuk was born in 1962. Their ID numbers were also different.
The permanent secretary said the investigation would look into the people who used the ID number of the deceased man to open the PromptPay account.
It was reported that a son of the late Alongkot Polmuk filed a complaint about the use of his father's ID number with police in Ayutthaya province. The son, who asked for anonymity over safety concerns, said he was worried his dead father's identity was being abused.
The PromptPay account has reportedly been used to receive donations since 2018.
Authorities are investigating the finances of Wat Phrabatnampu amid suspicions around its management and the spending of huge donations that people nationwide had given to the temple over roughly three decades.
The former abbot, Luang Phor Alongkot, had campaigned for financial aid to help HIV/Aids victims house at the temple, which is in Muang district of Lop Buri.
There are suspicions that donations were not spent directly on the treatment of patients, and also about the education background of Luang Phor Alongkot.
