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The bishop of a Chaldean Catholic church in El Cajon was arrested while trying to leave the country Thursday and jailed on suspicion of embezzlement, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office said.
The arrest of Bishop Emanuel Shaleta of the Diocese of St. Peter the Apostle comes more than two weeks after news surfaced alleging money was missing from the church and that the Vatican was investigating. The bishop denied the allegations.
Deputies detained Shaleta, 69, at San Diego International Airport as he was “attempting to leave the country,” the department said in a news release Thursday.
Shaleta was arrested on suspicion of eight counts each of embezzlement and money laundering, and also an enhancement alleging aggravated white collar crime. He was jailed in lieu of $125,000.
The bishop was still in the process of being booked into jail Thursday evening, and no further information was immediately available.
Earlier this week, The Pillar, an investigative news outlet covering the Catholic Church, reported that Shaleta was expected to travel to Rome this week as the Vatican weighed his future.
On Feb. 19, the outlet was the first to report that the Vatican had ordered an investigation into Shaleta and alleged more than $427,000 in cash had been “appropriated.”
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