Image: Britannica
A Manhattan-based Franciscan friar was sentenced to five years in prison after raising more than $560,000 through a fake medical charity supposedly operating two clinics in Beirut, Lebanon. Paul Bielecki falsely claimed to be a physician and surgeon with multiple PhD degrees and told donors he had been badly injured in the August 2020 Beirut explosion, which had also damaged his clinics. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) said he collected donations from more than 350 victims over nearly a decade, claiming the money would fund medicines, medical equipment, baby incubators, food and an ambulance. Bielecki also used the August 2020 Beirut explosion as part of his fundraising appeals, falsely telling donors that he had been badly injured in the disaster and that his medical clinics had suffered extensive damage. Through the scheme, Bielecki obtained more than $560,000 from over 350 victims, according to the DOJ. The DOJ identified first-class travel, multiple trips to the Hamptons, meals at high-end restaurants and a luxury gym membership costing $334.40 per month among his expenses.
The donations intended for medical supplies and humanitarian assistance were therefore diverted towards his personal lifestyle.
He falsely presented himself as a physician, vascular surgeon, cardiac surgeon and general surgeon, while also claiming to hold multiple PhD degrees, according to the DOJ. He told potential donors that the clinics needed money for medicines, medical equipment, baby incubators, food and an ambulance. His claims about being a surgeon and operating medical facilities were also false, according to the DOJ.
Instead, he used the funds for personal expenses. Paul Bielecki, a Manhattan-based friar belonging to the Capuchin Order, spent nearly a decade soliciting donations for two medical clinics he claimed to operate in Lebanon. Bielecki used his position within the Catholic religious community to reach donors through church Masses, other religious events, radio programmes, online podcasts and crowdfunding campaigns. The DOJ established that neither of the claimed medical clinics existed. The explosion, which devastated parts of the Lebanese capital, became part of his account of why the supposed facilities needed financial assistance. The fraudulent representations helped him obtain donations from people who believed they were supporting medical services and humanitarian assistance in Lebanon. Investigators established that the fundraising operation was based on fictitious medical facilities rather than an actual charitable healthcare programme. He solicited contributions through religious gatherings, media appearances and online fundraising campaigns, presenting the money as support for his purported clinics. Despite taking a vow of poverty as a member of the Capuchin Order, he used the donations to finance personal spending. He also spent thousands of dollars on aesthetic plastic surgery.
Bielecki pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on November 11, 2024, before US District Judge Vincent Briccetti. On March 27, 2025, he was sentenced to five years in prison by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. In addition to the prison sentence, the 48-year-old was ordered to serve three years of supervised release, forfeit $563,448 and pay restitution.
Acting US Attorney Matthew Podolsky said Bielecki had exploited his position as a friar to defraud hundreds of people and use the money for personal luxury. The investigation involved special agents from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation division, with assistance from US Customs and Border Protection. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.