Brazen fraud: Religious man pretends to be a nobleman and doctor

A New York Capuchin monk is said to have posed as a doctor and member of the royal houses of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Sonderburg-Glücksburg for years. As the "Zenit" portal reported on Monday, American authorities arrested the religious Pawel Bielecki in New York in mid-August. They accused him of fraud with a fake charity organisation.

According to a statement from the New York police, US prosecutor Damian Williams said: "Pawel Bielecki used his position as a monk to gain the trust of victims across the country and steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from them." He is said to have claimed in radio programmes and podcasts to run a medical clinic in Beirut. Bielecki claimed to help Christians in the Middle East in this clinic as a Catholic priest and doctor. During some of these appearances, he claimed to be in Lebanon. According to the police, however, he had not left the USA for years.

Plastic surgery and shopping trips

Between 2016 and 2019, the priest is said to have asked people to send cheques with the subject "Fr Paul Bielecki's Mission" directly to his provincialate. He later founded a charitable organisation at the address of his monastery in New York. Bielecki is also said to have used crowdfunding and payment services to receive donations. In total, he is said to have raised several hundred thousand dollars.

The priest is said to have spent the money on membership of a luxury gym chain, cosmetic surgery such as liposuction, travelling, shopping trips and restaurant visits. The priest now faces up to 40 years in prison in the USA. The responsible Capuchin province expressed its dismay at the incidents and reaffirmed that it would co-operate with the authorities. (ben)