Manhattan Franciscan friar sentenced to five years in prison for fraud related to fake medical charity in Beirut, Lebanon

March 27, 2025 — Matthew Podolsky, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that Paul Bielecki, a/k/a “Paul HRH Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,” a Manhattan-based Franciscan friar, was sentenced to five years in prison for perpetrating a multi-year scheme to obtain donations for a fake medical charity purportedly operating in Beirut, Lebanon. Bielecki previously pled guilty to wire fraud on November 11, 2024, before U.S. District Judge Vincent Briccetti, who imposed today’s sentence.  Read More