The arrests of the four monks accused of money fraud were combined with the arrest of , a hardline, ultra-royalist monk who had taken part in the 2014 Thailand coup d'état. He was from a fourth temple called Wat Oh Noy. Many officials were surprised by this arrest, because Phra Buddha Issara was known to have close ties with the ruling junta and had encouraged Pongporn's investigations into fraud in the first place. The monk was arrested on charges brought against him in 2014, including alleged robbery and detaining officials. The most serious charge against him, filed in 2017, was unauthorized use of the royal seal. Politician and activist expressed surprise that this arrest happened at the same time as the arrest of the four monks, but argued that it was unrelated to it. News commentator Chaturong Jong-asa argued that Thai authorities arrested the monks accused of fraud together with Phra Buddha Issara in order to please multiple political interest groups at the same time, without any group feeling left out.