Former head of China's 'kung fu' temple sentenced to 24 years, state media reports

Buddhist monk Shi Yongxin, 60, was charged in March this year after ⁠being placed under investigation last July.

A court in the central Chinese province of Henan handed down the sentence, saying Shi had abused his role at Shaolin Temple to embezzle, misappropriate, and take and give bribes totaling about 300 million yuan over nearly three decades.

Shi pleaded guilty and told the court he would not appeal, state media reported.

Shaolin Temple said last ‌July ⁠that its head monk was under joint investigation by multiple agencies for suspected criminal offences including embezzlement and violation of Buddhist precepts by maintaining improper relationships with multiple women over a long period.

Shi's ⁠monastic certificate was swiftly revoked by the Buddhist Association of China amid the investigation. Responding to Shi's sentencing in a statement, the ⁠association said on Friday that "he brought it on himself".

Shi, known as Liu Yingcheng before he became a monk in ⁠1981, oversaw the temple since 1987 and became its abbot in 1999.

($1 = 6.7665 Chinese yuan renminbi)