A Catholic priest who drove a Ferrari, kept a mistress and stole £2million from the Church and his flock has been jailed.
The Metro
June 27, 2010
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/833043-playboy-padre-is-jailed-over-2m-church-fraud
Father Antoine Videau used the money to fund his lavish lifestyle which included regular visits to casinos in Las Vegas and Monte Carlo, a court heard.
The Frenchman, known as the Playboy Padre, was found to have 28 bank accounts around the world following his arrest in 2005.
He 'played the system' for 20 years while he was a priest in Calacuccia, Corsica, a court in the capital Ajaccio heard on Saturday.
| ailed: Father Antoine Videau, in the hat, before his trial in Corsica Photo by Jan-Pierre Belzit |
'You have shown nothing but contempt for your parishioners,' said prosecutor Thomas Pison.
'Father Videau was a bon viveur who lived a double life. He would pretend to be devoted and holy, while in fact living part of his life like a super-rich playboy.'
He described the 64-year-old as someone who 'had no idea about the difference between right and wrong, who thought nothing of breaking both the laws of the Church and of his country'.
His crimes included hiring out convents for social events and wiping out the £500,000 estate of an archbishop when he died.
He also set up a secret love nest with a young woman in the south of France.
Videau denied fraud but he was convicted and jailed for two years and given a further year's suspended sentence.
He was also fined £82,000. Two of his accomplices were fined after being found guilty of helping defraud the Ajaccio diocese.
Despite his conviction the Church has no plans to discipline him.
'He is retired and is paying for his crimes,' a spokesman for the Vatican said.
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