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A fraudster who posed as a priest and celebrated sacraments for two decades in California has been arrested.
Erwin Mena, 59, is alleged to have sold fake tickets for a bogus pilgrimage to see Pope Francis when he visited the United States.
Mena allegedly pocketed more than US$15,000 for the con.
Despite acting as a priest in several places, he would move on before Church authorities could act, court papers indicated.
He convinced pastors at different parishes they did not need to check his official “faculties” before letting him perform services.
These included Masses, confessions and weddings.
He allegedly made money by borrowing from people, selling faith-based videos for US$25 and producing several eBooks, including one about his “irreverent confessions”, where he discussed celibacy.
He also accepted a US$16,000 to make a video about Pope Francis (that turned out to be pirated) and one person loaned him US$6000.
All in all, he is alleged to have swindled more than US$50,000.
He is facing 30 charges, including perjury, grand theft and practicing medicine without a licence.
If convicted on all these charges, he could face 21 years behind bars.
His name has been on a list of dozens of unauthorised priests and deacons, which is kept by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Some victims have been reimbursed for the bogus Pope pilgrimage.
Those who received the sacraments from Mena can receive them again, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles archdiocese said.
The archdiocese stated: “We are grateful to the Los Angeles Police Department for working to ensure that Erwin Mena was brought to justice.”
“Our prayers go out to all the victims of his scam,” the archdiocese added.
Sources
- Daily Mail
- WTKR
- Image: Philly.com
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