A Catholic bishop and several priests in Brazil have been charged with misappropriation of church funds uncovered in a corruption investigation, prosecutors in Goais state said on Friday.
Police this week arrested the bishop of Formosa, Jose Ribeiro, on allegations that he and other Catholic clergymen stole about 2 million reais ($608,000) from church coffers.
Close to a dozen people, including Bishop José Ronaldo Ribeiro, the diocesan vicar general, and four other priests are accused of conspiracy to commit a crime and of having diverted resources from the Diocese of Formosa, according to reports by Spanish news agency Efe.
A police raid on one of the priests’ home saw officers prise open a false wall in to find some £19,200 in plastic bags hidden in a secret storage space.
It’s alleged the money was stolen over a three-year period from tithes, donations, fundraising events and from fees collected for ceremonies such as baptisms and weddings.
According to state prosecutors, the bishop, who was appointed to the Formosa diocese in 2014, is suspected of leading a sophisticated scheme that diverted funds from church coffers.
Phone taps uncovered the alleged web of deceit with conversations apparently revealing how the group laundered the money by purchasing a cattle ranch, a lottery agency, phones, luxury cars, designer watches and gold chains. Large amounts of cash in foreign currencies were also found.
The investigation into the Formosa Diocese accounts began last year after members of the congregation alleged irregularities and misuse of assets by the Catholic Church.
The prosecutors have charged 11 people, including several lay people, with misappropriation, money laundering, “ideological falsehood” and criminal association.
Ronaldo was appointed to the diocese of Formosa, in the centre-west state of Goiás, by Pope Francis in 2014.
Before being appointed to Formosa, Ronaldo served for seven years as bishop of Janaúba, a city north of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, where he was also accused of irregularities that were never investigated, according to local news site EM.
The ongoing investigation by prosecutors and police started in 2015, following complaints by parishioners. In an interview with local media two years ago, Ronaldo denied any wrong-doing, saying that the money collected from parishes is used to pay for the maintenance of priest’s residences, seminaries, and other church buildings.
Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Paulo Mendes Peixoto of the Brazilian city Uberaba to run the diocese of Formosa for the Holy See, the Vatican said in a statement on Wednesday.
