A Franciscan friar in New York City allegedly spent $650,000 on plastic surgery, fine dining, and trips to the Hamptons after claiming he was helping injured people in Lebanon. Pawel ‘Paul’ Bielecki, was charged with wire and mail fraud by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York on Aug. 17. According to the complaint, Bielecki, known as Father Paul, defrauded victims by “falsely representing that he was a medical doctor who runs medical clinics in Beirut,” while soliciting donations on local radio shows and crowdfunding websites for non-existent Lebanese hospitals and ambulances. The priest’s order, the Province of St. Mary, turned him in August 2023. If convicted, Father Paul faces 40 years in prison.
