Some people have pretended to be Living Buddhas to trick Buddhist followers in order to illegally raise funds and sponsor separatist groups, a senior official of religious and ethnic affairs in China revealed Saturday.

"Some have taken advantage of closer ties between Tibet and other Chinese cities to collect money by pretending to be Living Buddhas, and some even use the money to sponsor separatist activities," Zhu Weiqun - chairman of the Ethnic and Religious Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference - said in an interview with China Central Television (CCTV).

Such a practice has gone on for a long time, and it has become more frequent as many Chinese people have gained better living conditions and as spiritual needs have increased, Penpa Lhamo, an expert at the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

Lhamo added that separatists have also taken advantage of the trend and have collected money by fooling believers in developed cities into financing their activities, since the money they get from US and European foundations is limited.

According to Lhamo and Wang Xiaobin, a scholar with the Beijing-based China Tibetology Research Center, a monk officially becomes a Living Buddha after going through a confirmation process involving historical conventions, traditional religious rituals and government approval.

Some Living Buddhas bypass the official approach by being identified by prestigious monks or temples without applying for permission from the country's department of religious affairs, Phoenix Weekly reported, adding that some followers' recognition of a person as a Living Buddha does not depend on official certification.

The Tibet Autonomous Region now has 358 Living Buddhas, more than 60 of which were officially granted their status, according to a national white paper on Tibet issued at the 50th anniversary of the region's establishment in September.

The Chinese government has been working on a list of officially recognized Living Buddhas and might make the list accessible to the public, Zhu added.

In order to be a reincarnation of a Living Buddha, a person must go through the traditional and official procedures, a requirement which was blurred by the 14th Dalai Lama to feed his political intentions, Wang told the Global Times.

Wang said official and traditional methods to find and train a "soul-boy" - a person with the reincarnated soul of a Living Buddha - take about 20 years before he is fully capable of presiding over temple affairs.