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New York City resident Pawel Bielecki, a 48-year-old friar with the White Plains-based Province of St. Mary of the Capuchin Order, was arrested on wire and mail fraud charges, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced on Monday, Aug. 19.
According to federal officials, Bielecki, also known as "Paul Bielecki," "Paul HRH Saxe-Coburg-Gotha," and "Dr. Phaakon Sonderburg-Glucksburg," among other names, engaged in an ongoing fraudulent scheme to collect donations from victims to go toward fake medical clinics he claimed to run in the country of Lebanon.
As part of this scheme, Bielecki, who took a vow of poverty requiring him not to hold any property or bank accounts in his name for personal benefit to become a friar, would claim that the donations were going toward medical clinics in Beirut, Lebanon. However, they were actually for his personal use, according to officials.
Bielecki would go as far as to appear in advertisements on radio programs and online podcasts to seek donations for these "clinics," officials added.
For example, between June 2015 and December 2023, Bielecki repeatedly appeared in advertisements and as a guest on one local New York radio station. During these appearances, he would allegedly claim to be a Catholic priest and physician living in Lebanon and running medical clinics.
In many of his appearances, Bielecki would claim to be a physician, vascular surgeon, cardiac surgeon, and general surgeon. He would also claim that any donations raised would go toward medicine, medical equipment, baby incubators, food, and an ambulance for his purported "clinics," officials said.
Officials also added that Bielecki even claimed to have been badly injured in an August 2020 explosion in Beirut that he also said damaged his clinics.
Despite his alleged claims, Bielecki is not a physician or surgeon and travel records show he was present in the US on dates he claimed to be in Lebanon, according to federal officials.
As part of his scheme to collect donations, Bielecki accepted funds through several methods, including checks written to the Province with Fr. Paul Bielecki’s Mission" in the endorsement line. Some donations would also be mailed to a nonprofit entity called "St. Francis in Beirut Inc." at the address of a Capuchin Order friary in New York City where Bielecki lived.
In total, Bielecki collected "at least hundreds of thousands of dollars" from victims, which would go to several credit or debit card accounts and bank accounts he maintained despite his poverty vow, officials said.
Between December 2017 and February 2024, Bielecki allegedly withdrew almost $50,000 in cash from his bank accounts and also transferred over $600,000 to two credit card companies to pay for personal expenses. This included $334.40 monthly payments to a luxury gym chain; multiple trips to the Hamptons; meals at high-end restaurants; and even an aesthetic plastic surgery procedure at a liposuction clinic, according to officials.
Bielecki's activities were eventually reported to the US Attorney's Office by the Province of St. Mary after it instructed him to resign from an external non-religious employment position that they were not able to verify.
An internal investigation then revealed Bielecki's alleged fraudulent conduct, members of the Province said in a statement.
"The Province did not participate in fundraising for these nonexistent overseas charitable projects, and since the spring of 2023, the Province has not given Fr. Paul any ministerial assignment," the statement read, continuing: "After discovering this, we reported our findings to the U.S. Attorney, and we continue to fully cooperate with them."
Bielecki is now charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud, which each carry a maximum potential prison sentence of 20 years.
In a statement on Monday, US Attorney Damian Williams condemned Bielecki's alleged fraud:
"Pawel Bielecki exploited his position as a friar to gain the trust of victims across the country and steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from them," Williams said, adding, "Bielecki is now facing federal charges for allegedly illegally profiteering on the trust his victims placed in him.”
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