Thai police prepare to raid scandal-hit temple, arrest abbot


Abbot Phra Dhammachayo (C) arrives for a ceremony at the Wat Phra Dhammakaya temple in Pathum Thani province, north of Bangkok on Makha Bucha Day, March 4, 2015. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File Photo

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai police prepared to raid a Buddhist temple north of Bangkok on Thursday and apprehend its influential abbot, a justice ministry unit said, the latest twist in a series of scandals that has shaken Thailand's dominant faith.

The wealthy and influential Dhammakaya temple is at the centre of religious tensions and its 72-year-old abbot, Phra Dhammachayo, is accused of conspiring to launder money by accepting stolen cash from a credit union.

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