Spanish priest at Ecce Homo church arrested for fraud

SPAIN
UPI

BORJA, Spain, Dec. 5 (UPI) — Police said they arrested a Spanish priest — from a church where a woman defaced a fresco of Jesus while trying to restore it — on sex and fraud charges.

The Rev. Florencio Garces, 70, was one of six men arrested Friday as part of a sting called Operation Thorn Tree, TheLocal.es reported.

He was released after his arrest but was remanded in custody without bail Thursday, Spain’s El Mundo newspaper said.

Garces allegedly embezzled $251,000 from the parish where he worked in Borja in the Zaragoza region.

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