Two Southern California abbots who were sued by a Buddhist nun filed a lawsuit of their own on Friday that seeks at least $5 million in damages, denies the woman was sexually assaulted and accuses her of extortion, theft of donations and immigration-related fraud.
RELATED: Buddhist nun alleges sexual assault in lawsuit against California Vietnamese-American temple
The federal lawsuit, filed Aug. 15 by the Venerable Thich Vien Huy, also known as Xuan Ngoc Ho, abbot of Dieu Ngu Buddhist Temple in Westminster, his brother, Venerable Thich Vien Ly, also known as Tan Ho, abbot of Dieu Phap Buddhist Temple in San Gabriel, and the International Buddhist Cultural Heritage Foundation, states that the nun suing them in Orange County Superior Court tried to extort them for $650,000 while threatening to reveal damaging claims and photographs.
The woman’s lawsuit, filed in June and amended on Aug. 12, alleged the Westminster abbot sexually assaulted her, and that both abbots retaliated when she tried to report the abuse, while exploiting her as an underpaid worker and threatening her immigration status. The suit seeks damages for alleged offenses including sexual battery, human trafficking and labor-law violations.
“The Foundation and its personnel strongly deny any wrongdoing against (her), and in fact, as alleged in this federal lawsuit, it is the Foundation and its personnel who are the victims,” said the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Edward Susolik, in a news release.
The countersuit accuses the woman of keeping thousands of dollars in cash donations from temple congregants, pressuring the foundation to continue sponsoring her visa, and attempting to arrange a fraudulent, non-bona fide marriage to remain in the United States.
The abbots also disputed her claims of being underpaid and forced into long hours of secular work. They noted in their suit that Buddhist monks and nuns take vows of poverty and understand they will not be paid a salary, but instead receive housing, food, medical care and a monthly stipend of about $400 for personal effects.
Life in the temples is communal, with tasks divided informally “like a family,” the countersuit states, and much of a nun’s time spent in prayer, ritual practice and tending to congregants rather than secular labor.
The countersuit also asserts that the nun was not expelled from the temples, as she alleged, but instead chose to return to Vietnam voluntarily in March 2024 after her visa status lapsed. The abbots say the foundation simply declined to continue sponsoring her, and they deny intimidating her or withholding documents.
The nun’s suit was filed under an alias.
