CANADA
CBC News
London police have charged a priest with defrauding more than $500,000 intended to sponsor Syrian refugees coming to Hamilton.
Amer Saka of London, a 51-year-old Chaldean priest, is charged with fraud exceeding $5,000 and possessing proceeds of crime. The investigation started in February.
Police allege Saka got money from more than 20 victims who thought they were sponsoring refugee families.
Saka is a priest at St. Joseph’s Chaldean Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Hamilton said in March that it worried the money was gambled from a reserve for a private sponsorship program that has already brought 11 refugees to the city. It was supposed to help settle as many as 40 more.
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