The Chinese abbot who turned the temple where kung fu was invented into a sprawling commercial empire failed to turn up at a Buddhist meeting in Thailand this weekend, fuelling speculation that he is under investigation after weeks of lurid allegations.

Shi Yongxin, the round-faced, yellow-robed “CEO monk” who heads the Shaolin Temple, has been accused by a former disciple of fathering several children out of wedlock and embezzling money.

The allegations, widely reported in Chinese media, are the latest in a string of controversies surrounding the globe-trotting abbot, whose aggressive commercialisation of the historic temple for tourism, martial arts and cultural purposes has made him China’s most famous Buddhist and turned the Shaolin temple into China’s most recognisable brand.