Chief Monk Turns to Crime to Pay his Debts
Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2018 8:45 pm
Kampong Speu, Cambodia News: On November 29, 2018, the chief monk of Tep Oumaram pagoda, located in Sampeoung Village, Kompong Speu, went to police claiming that there had been a break in at the pagoda and that 16 million riel (about $4,000) and US$900 in cash had been stolen. The door window had been smashed and all the indications pointed to a burglary.
However, after some nifty detective work, police concluded that the monk was a liar and that he had broken the window himself. It turns out that he had a lot of debts, and so he decided to steal the pagoda money and disguise his theft as a break in.
The monk, Morn Oeun, was arrested by police for theft, and he also appeared before the religious authorities to be defrocked.
