Priest really knows how to manage a charity – for himself
How to visit your parishioners in a real hurry!
A Catholic priest who drove a Ferrari, kept mistresses and siphoned off more than £2 million of charity donations has been jailed for fraud in France.
Father Antoine Videau, 64, received a three-year prison sentence for crimes that led to him being known as the “Playboy Padre”. He was revealed to have been in possession of 28 bank accounts around the world following his arrest.
Much of the money was being used to fund his multi-millionaire lifestyle which included regular visits to casinos in Las Vegas and Monte Carlo…
Father Videau, who was arrested in 2005 while parish priest in Calacuccia, Corsica, had denied fraud and abuse of confidence.
His crimes also included hiring out nunneries for social events, and then using the profits to maintain his lavish lifestyle.
He appointed himself executor of the half-a-million pounds estate of a deceased archbishop, making sure that everything went to him.
Meanwhile, Father Videau set up home with a young woman in La Ciotat, in the Bouches-du-Rhône area of France, making sure that nobody back in Corsica got to hear about her.
Is there any significant difference between this particular hustler and any other religion pimp?
He used the money for a hustlers’ lifestyle, fast cars and bimbos. The only difference with our all-American favorites is that they take out a certain amount of time to support reactionary politics.
He only did enough of that to stay in touch with the Vatican.
For his transgressions Father Antoine will be spending the next 3 years behind bars, in which time one wonders he will be contemplating whether it was all worth it. Interesting, the conflict of dual nature of mankind, especially amongst priests. Let’s hope Father Antoine keeps his eyes off the female guards while his locked away.
http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2010/06/father-antoine-videau-steals-2-million-pounds-to-fund-playboy-lifestyle/
scallywag
June 27, 2010 at 7:05 pm
This is more amusing than anything, at least this guy never molested kids.
wok3
June 28, 2010 at 5:10 am
I always forget religion is rooted more in finance than in faith.
I wonder if Father Antoine sold any indulgences (tickets to heaven)? They had to be the best scam in the history of the world.
Weary Reaper
June 28, 2010 at 6:20 am
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June 28, 2010 at 4:03 pm
The ‘astonishing rise’ of Cardinal Ouellet…
My blog readers will be interested in your post so added a trackback to it on CatholicTide…
Catholic Tide
July 4, 2010 at 2:14 pm