A Franciscan monk has been accused of being a fraudster after allegedly spending $650,000 on plastic surgery and trips to the Hamptons, while also claiming to help injured people in Lebanon.
Pawel “Paul” Bielecki, 48, of New York City, was charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York with wire fraud and mail fraud for allegedly “defrauding victims by falsely claiming to be a doctor running medical clinics in Beirut, Lebanon,” the complaint to read.
He allegedly transferred more than $600,000 to two credit card companies for personal expenses, including a $334-a-month gym membership, multiple trips to the Hamptons and dining at fancy restaurants.
He also transferred $50,000 to his personal bank accounts and spent $15,000 on plastic surgery.
He received the money through donations between 2015 and 2024. He claimed to be a surgeon with multiple doctorates and had two medical clinics in Lebanon.
He exploited the 2020 chemical explosion in Beirut, which killed 218 people and injured Bielecki himself and badly damaged his clinic.
Pawel “Paul” Bielecki, 48, of New York City, was charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York with wire fraud and mail fraud for allegedly “defrauding victims by falsely claiming to be a doctor running medical clinics in Beirut, Lebanon.”
The Southern District of New York found that Bielecki left the U.S. between December 2019 and April 2022 and that during the period he told customers he was injured, he actually made purchases at coffee shops and restaurants in New York City, where he lives.
“As alleged, Pawel Bielecki abused his position as a monk to gain the trust of victims across the country and steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from them,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. proposition‘Bielecki now faces federal charges alleging he profited unlawfully from the trust his victims placed in him.’
Bielecki took a vow of poverty when he joined the Capuchin Order, a religious organization in White Plains, promising not to transfer property or bank accounts into his name for personal gain.
According to U.S. Attorney’s Office, the monastery provided its devout employees with $250 a month for personal expenses and also gave them a credit card for work-related expenses.
Between 2016 and 2019, donors from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Georgia and Florida were asked to send donations in the form of checks with the memo line: “The Mission of Father Paul Bielecki.”
He exploited the 2020 chemical explosion in Beirut (pictured), which killed 218 people and in which Bielecki claimed he was injured and his clinic severely damaged.
Starting in April 2021, he had them send checks to “St. Francis in Beirut Inc.”, a nonprofit organization founded in March 2021 and based in the Capuchin monastery in New York.
According to the complaint, he also used crowdfunding sources to raise $78,000 and Zelle payments to receive donations.
In December 2021, Bielecki emailed a donor from Pennsylvania wishing them a happy holiday. A few weeks later, he told them he was “going to buy a new ambulance” that would “make it possible [him] to visit villages far in the north and provide medical assistance.’
The victim responded on January 15, 2022, that his “many prayers for an ambulance had been answered” and said a $10,000 deposit would be sent to him “next week.”
A few days after receiving the large sum, he searched Google for “laser-assisted liposuction” and scheduled an appointment for a “body contouring examination” on Feb. 15, 2022. During the appointment, he scheduled a $15,000 plastic surgery procedure, the complaint states.
He allegedly transferred more than $600,000 to two credit card companies for personal expenses, including a $334-a-month gym membership and multiple trips to the Hamptons. He also transferred $50,000 to his personal bank accounts and spent $15,000 on plastic surgery (Pictured: Beirut in 2020)
On the same day as his consultation, he sent an email to the Pennsylvania donor, saying he had already “helped a few villages with medical aid.”
“People were crying,” he wrote. “For almost a year we couldn’t reach them. We didn’t have an ambulance, and thanks to you, we have one :).”
Around March 15, 2022, he emailed the donor again, telling him that he was doing his “best to continue the operations” and that he should “continue visiting villages.”
Financial records show he actually paid for a cab in New York, spent more than $430 at a high-end men’s clothing store in the city and used his debit card for several other purchases, the indictment said.
By the end of his plan, the donor and her husband Bielecki had given $84,000 and exchanged more than 150 emails.
On his 2020-2022 tax returns, which he shared with the monastery, he listed work for the United Nations, which he claimed to have done conducting advanced scientific research for them.
He received the money through donations between 2015 and 2024, claiming to be a surgeon with multiple PhDs who ran two medical clinics in Lebanon
“I believe BIELECKI used his purported “UN-DARPA” work to conceal income he received from his fraudulent scheme,” Special Agent Sean Smyth wrote in the complaint.
The monastery attempted to verify his claim and on August 11, 2022, they received an email claiming that “Dr. Bielecki” did indeed work for them.
When they asked for a personal visit, the alleged “Dr. P.Haakon Sonderburg-Glucksburg” said he lived in South Asia and could not do so. When they asked to meet Dr. Sonoda, with whom Bielecki’s “contract” was signed, Glucksburg said she had retired.
Both email addresses were linked to a recovery account belonging to Bielecki. The accounts were also created on the same day the monastery inquired about his scientific work.
The Polish-born monk also used many pseudonyms, including “Paul [His Royal Highness] Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
Additionally, Bielecki’s file at the monastery contained a false medical school diploma dated May 2020 and a handwritten note stating he had earned the degree in 2007 in Paris, France, while working as a missionary in Lebanon.
The monk’s own order changed him in August 2023 after Father Robert Abbatiello reported him to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for suspicious behavior. Bielecki faces up to 40 years in prison if found guilty
The monk’s own disposition led to his conviction in August 2023 after Father Robert Abbatiello reported him to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for suspicious behavior, the New York Post.
“Until recently, there was no reason to doubt the veracity of his credentials,” Abbatiello said. “The county conducted a thorough internal investigation that determined Brother Paul was not who he claimed to be.
“The brothers are offended and shocked by the betrayal that Father Paul has committed against us and the people he has deceived.”
Bielecki faces up to 40 years in prison if found guilty.
In 1994, he joined the Capuchin Franciscans in Krakow. Some voters in New York were shocked to learn that he was an impostor.
“Are you serious?” Ralph Succar, 66, who has raised thousands of dollars for Middle East aid, told The Post.
“Oh my God, that’s the worst news I’ve heard in years.”