Ex-Shaolin Temple Abbot Gets 24 Years for Embezzlement and Bribery

Buddhist monk Shi Yongxin, 60, has been sentenced to 24 years in prison and fined 3.5 million yuan after being found guilty of embezzlement and bribery. A court in Henan province ruled that Shi abused his role as abbot at Shaolin Temple to misappropriate funds and accept bribes totalling about 300 million yuan over nearly three decades. He pleaded guilty and said he would not appeal. Investigations began last July, with multiple agencies probing his suspected criminal offences and violations of monastic rules through improper relationships. The Buddhist Association of China revoked his monastic certificate and said he “brought it on himself.” Born Liu Yingcheng, he entered monastic life in 1981, led the temple from 1987, and became its official abbot in 1999. His sentence is one of the most high-profile corruption cases in modern Chinese Buddhism.

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