An alleged conman has been arrested in Los Angeles after police and the Catholic Church say that he posed as a priest for more than 25 years, celebrating weddings and even administering at funerals before his capture this week.
Erwin Mena, 59, was held on suspicion of stealing thousands of dollars from the religious in a number of scams, including selling a bogus trip to New York to see Pope Francis during his recent visit to the city in November.
He has been charged with 22 felonies including numerous counts of grand theft according to a criminal complaint filed by the LA Country district attorney’s office. Despite being known to the Los Angeles diocese since the 1990s and on a blacklist of bogus priests detectives finally caught up with him after parishioners complained about his activities as the "parish priest" at St Ignatius Loyola in Highland Park, north LA.
Mena allegedly sold the fake trips to see Pope Francis to parishioners, as well as CDs he had recorded and a book he claimed to have written. Mena posed as a priest at St Ignatius of Loyola and at a number of Catholic parishes and prayer groups in San Bernardino, Stockton, Fresno and Orange County, in California, authorities said.
Court documents claimed that the rogue priest would manage to disappear whenever the archdiocese tried to investigate his activities, which included leading prayer groups or working in the parish.
Archdioceses have procedures in place to prevent imposters, and in Los Angeles the archdiocese keeps a list of rogue priests and deacons, which numbers more than 95 people, according to the LA Times. Mena’s name had allegedly been on the list since 2008.
Administrators at St Ignatius had initially failed to check whether Mena’s name was on the list before allowing him access to the church, it was reported. A number of the alleged victims have already been reimbursed, a wedding ceremony has been rescheduled and those who received the sacraments from Mena can receive them again, Los Angeles archdiocese spokesperson Doris Benavides told Associated Press.
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