Mrs. Dong, who has been selling fish balls for a hundred years on Dihua Street, is suspected of being a trap. Nearly 300 million yuan of her family property has flowed into Yilan Donglin Temple.

The third generation person in charge of the fish ball shop named Cai (left) sued Donglin Temple for defrauding his mother of 300 million yuan of family property. (provided by the public)

Donglin Temple in Dongshan Township, Yilan County, was involved in a shocking case of emptying out temple property. Abbot Zhang Qingyu and his son, a monk, were implicated in embezzlement of believers' donations, purchasing gold, and virtual currencies to launder and hide them. They were both ordered to be detained by the court today. As the shady curtain was revealed, the blood and tears of the old lady Dong of the century-old "Jincheng Fish Ball" store on Dihua Street in Taipei was suspected of setting up a trap during her lifetime, and nearly 300 million of her family property was looted by the temple authorities. The bloody and tearful inside story was also exposed.

The current third generation person in charge of the fish ball shop named Cai complained bitterly that his mother went to Donglin Temple to practice Buddhism in 2010. She was devout to the Buddha, but she unexpectedly fell into a money trap. In just 4 years, under the guidance of the temple’s words, the old man gradually remitted nearly 300 million yuan in life savings. The originally strong bank deposit was only over 300,000 yuan in the end, and even the life-saving medical surgery expenses in his later years were almost unsustainable.

What makes the family even more distressed is that in August 2014, Cai's mother was admitted to the intensive care unit due to severe kidney disease. The temple authorities actually asked the hospital not to issue a critical illness notice, and even took the frail old man out of the hospital to remit 400,000 yuan. After she was discharged, they quickly terminated the contract and donated all the time deposits of more than 70 million yuan to the temple.

Cai Nan alleged that in addition to his mother's fixed deposit being plundered, the temple authorities also induced Cai's mother to spend more than 12 million yuan to establish an "immortality throne." After her mother died of illness, her family and the police went to Donglin Temple to retrieve the seal and passbook, but the temple authorities refused and tried their best to hide the money flow. The family members criticized her mother for being strict in running the household, and if the huge donation was truly voluntary, she would never have been able to hide it from her loved ones.

The family finally sued the temple for fraud. When the abbot Zhang Qingyu appeared in court in August, he arrived in a Porsche luxury car with a high profile. He strongly insisted that the believers voluntarily donated the ashram. On the contrary, he criticized Cai Nan as just an adopted son and had already made a fortune. His attitude was quite tough. Unexpectedly, an in-depth investigation revealed that the so-called donations were not all used for Buddhist construction, but went to private accounts to purchase land and luxury cars. Today, Zhang Qingyu and his son were detained on charges of embezzling donations from believers, using cryptocurrency and gold to launder and hide money.

A shocking case of emptying out temple property occurred at Donglin Temple in Dongshan Township, Yilan. Abbot Zhang Qingyu (front) was involved in misappropriating donations from believers, purchasing gold and virtual currencies, laundering and hiding them, and was ordered by the court to be detained. (provided by the public)