Bangkok: Thailand's attorney general said on Wednesday it would charge the abbot of a powerful Buddhist sect and four others suspected of money laundering in the latest twist of a long-running saga that has divided Thai Buddhism.

Police in the predominantly Buddhist country have tried several times to arrest Phra Dhammachayo, abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya, a futuristic-looking monastery located some 50 km (30 miles) north of Bangkok.