By Dan Murphy
The news last week that U.S. Attorney Damian Williams had indicted Paul Bielecki for wire fraud and for stealing more than $650,000 in donations made by good Samaritans that were falsely claimed to be used for charitable purposes, could have resulted in Westcheter resident falling victim to his lies.
Bielecki, who also goes by several pseudonyms, including PAWEL BIELECKI, a/k/a “Paul Bielecki,” a/k/a “Paul HRH Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,” a/k/a “Dr. Phaakon Sonderburg-Glucksburg,” a/k/a “Father Paul,” a/k/a “Father Kowal,” is a Fransiscan Friar in the Capuchin Order, a Catholic order of priests and brothers, and is a brother in a Province of St. Mary’s, headquartered in White Plains.
To become a Capuchin friar, Bielecki took a vow of poverty that requires him to renounce and not to hold any property or bank accounts in his name for his personal benefit. The Province provides friars, including Bielecki, with a monthly stipend of approximately $250 for personal expenses.
From at least November 2016 through at least July 2019, BIELECKI directed victims to make out checks to the Province of St. Mary, headquartered in White Plains, NY, with “Fr. Paul Bielecki’s Mission” or a similar endorsement on the memo line.
BIELECKI maintained multiple credit or debit card accounts and multiple bank accounts. Over a 7 year period, (2017-2024), Bielecki received more than 150 checks totaling more than $230,000. In addition to the checks and bank donations, Bielecki created a Crowdfuding campaign that raised $78,000.
Despite taking a vow of poverty, Bielecki has withdrawn almost $50,000 in cash from his bank accounts and transferred more than $600,000 to two credit card companies to pay for personal expenses, including
membership at a luxury gym chain, and paying for multiple trips to the Hamptons and numerous meals at high-end restaurants, and if you can believe it, for plastic surgery.
Bielecki lied to donors, saying that he was using the money to buy an ambulance and medical supplies for victims in Lebanon, telling donors that he had already used the ambulance to assist a “few villages with medical help” and that “[p]eople were crying,” and that the people in the villages needed a generator that he needed more money for. “I used all the help for ambulance and medical supplies,” said Bielecki.
From 2015 -2023, BIELECKI repeatedly appeared as a guest or through advertisements on a particular local New York radio show (“Radio Program‑1”). During these appearances and advertisements, BIELECKI repeatedly represented that he was a Catholic priest and physician living in Lebanon and running medical clinics there, with the goal of assisting Christians living in the Middle East.
In these radio and media appearances, BIELECKI falsely represented, that he was a physician, vascular surgeon, cardiac surgeon, and/or general surgeon, and he has also earned multiple Ph.D. degrees;
That he runs two medical clinics in Lebanon and is raising money for medicine, medical equipment, baby incubators, food, and an ambulance for his clinics in Lebanon; And that he was physically present in Lebanon, and he was badly injured and his clinics badly damaged by a widely reported August 2020 explosion in Beirut, Lebanon.
These representations were false. In fact, BIELECKI is not a physician or surgeon of any kind, he has not also earned multiple Ph.D. degrees, and he does not operate any medical clinics in Lebanon.
In March of 2022, Bielecki receieved an “aesthetic plastic surgery procedure,” at a cost of $15,000, and all the time asserting that he was in Lebanon “doing our best to keep surgeries running” and continuing to “[v]isit villages.” After his plastic surgery, Bielecki made a $1,000 cash withdrawl to pay for clothes at a high end men’s story in NYC. One victim was scammed out of $84,000 between 2020-2023.
The Province of St. Mary’s finally conducted an internal investigation of Bielecki, but not before he stole hundreds of thousdands of dollars to innocent victims trying to help those in need.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged, 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. Bielecki is now facing federal charges for allegedly illegally profiteering on the trust his victims placed in him.”
BIELECKI, 48, of New York, New York, is charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud, each of which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison.
There may be more victims of this alleged conduct. If you have information to report, contact Special Agent Sean Smyth, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, at (914) 993-1900 or by following the instructions available at https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/report-crime.
Editor’s Note: We received the following statement from Fr. Robert Abbatiello, OFM Cap., The Province of St. Mary of the Capuchin Order
“Fr. Paul Bielecki, a Capuchin friar, was arrested on Saturday, August 17, and has been charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud. The Capuchin Franciscan Friars are a worldwide order of Catholic priests and brothers, and we firmly believe that no one should violate the public trust — first and foremost, a member of the Church. This is why our Province reported Fr. Paul’s suspicious behavior to the U.S. Attorney’s office and is continuing to fully cooperate with them.
“Here is the history: In 1994, Fr. Paul Bielecki entered the Capuchin Order in Krakow, Poland, joining the Capuchin Krakow Province. He was ordained as a priest in Krakow in 2001.
“Beginning in 2011, at the request of the Capuchin Krakow Province, Fr. Paul became a guest of the Province of St. Mary, which covers New York and New England. He came here to pursue an advanced degree at NYU. He became a member of the Province of St. Mary in 2019 and has resided in New York since 2011.
“Until recently, there was no reason to suspect the veracity of his credentials. Effective the spring of 2023, the Province of St. Mary instructed Fr. Paul to resign an external non-religious employment position that the Province was unable to verify. Then, the Province conducted a vigorous internal investigation which revealed Fr. Paul was not who he represented himself to be, misrepresented his background and academic credentials, had been making false representations to raise money for overseas charitable projects that did not exist, and used our headquarters and our other offices as conduits for some of the funds raised. After discovering this, we reported our findings to the U.S. Attorney, and we continue to fully cooperate with them.
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. Our Capuchin Friars will continue to pray for Fr. Paul, and for those affected by Fr. Paul’s activities.
As there is a criminal investigation ongoing, we cannot comment further
