Reverend Father Used $650K in Donations to Fund Lavish Lifestyle While Deceiving Donors About Helping Sick People in Lebanon
A Catholic Reverend, Father Pawel Bielecki, has been exposed by authorities for deceiving donors after raising over $650,000, claiming it was for overseas medical clinics in Lebanon. Instead, he used the funds to finance an extravagant lifestyle that included luxury meals, trips to the Hamptons, and plastic surgery.
Known as “Father Paul,” Bielecki claimed to be operating medical clinics in war-torn Lebanon while he was actually living 5,600 miles away in Manhattan, New York. According to Damian Williams, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, 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. He was arrested on August 17 on charges of wire and mail fraud.
For eight years, Bielecki allegedly targeted compassionate individuals, soliciting donations through local radio shows and crowdfunding websites for non-existent Lebanese hospitals and ambulances. Authorities revealed that he even exploited the tragic August 4, 2020, chemical explosion in Beirut, which killed 218 people, claiming he was injured in the attack. However, prosecutors confirmed that Bielecki wasn’t in Lebanon at the time; instead, he was making purchases in Manhattan on the day of the disaster.
Investigators found that Bielecki hadn’t left the US between December 2019 and April 2022. He directed donors in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Georgia, and Florida to send checks to his friary, labeled with “Fr. Paul Bielecki’s Mission.” He also sweet-talked victims into mailing donations to “St. Francis in Beirut Inc.,” a non-profit he established at the Manhattan friary where he lived.
Between December 2017 and February 2024, Bielecki withdrew nearly $50,000 in cash from his bank accounts and transferred over $600,000 to credit card companies to cover personal expenses, including a $334-per-month gym membership, trips to the Hamptons, and numerous meals at high-end restaurants. He also allegedly spent at least $15,000 on liposuction surgery.
Bielecki, who sometimes claimed to be a surgeon or a United Nations researcher, used multiple aliases, including “Dr. Phaakon Sonderburg-Glucksburg.” In September, he legally changed his name to “Paul HRH Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,” with “HRH” standing for “His Royal Highness.”
In 2018, Bielecki told the Salaam Club of New York and the Rotary Club of Verrazano about doctors supposedly detained along the Syrian border, adding that he had intended to bring four physicians with him, but they were in jail. This was reported by the Brooklyn Reporter.
One of his victims, a Pennsylvania woman and her husband, transferred $84,000 to Bielecki’s account between June 2020 and October 2023. She even emailed him on Christmas Eve 2021, offering blessings to him and the people of Lebanon. Two weeks later, Bielecki falsely claimed he was purchasing a new ambulance to provide medical help in northern villages, prompting her to wire another $10,000.
On Valentine’s Day, Bielecki followed up, writing that the ambulance was ready and that he had already visited several villages. In reality, he had just scheduled a $15,000 liposuction surgery at an NYC clinic.
John Abi-Habib, an honorary consul of Lebanon and a member of the Salaam Club of New York, expressed shock at the news of Bielecki’s arrest, saying, “That’s scary, man, that’s not right. Anyone that tries to use good people and hardworking people… and then not use [the donations properly]? It hurts. It hurts a lot.”
Bielecki, who was born in Poland, joined the Capuchin Franciscans in Krakow in 1994, taking a vow of poverty that required him to renounce material possessions. He was ordained as a priest in 2001, according to church officials.