A California bishop allegedly pocketed a wealthy CEO’s $200,000 cash donation meant to renovate a Catholic church before leaving the state for Michigan.
Yousif Abdulmasih, also known as Marnaba Yousif Habash, is accused of taking the donation from Hani Toma, a member of Our Mother of Perpetual Help Syriac Catholic Church in El Cajon, according to ABC10.
Toma alleges the bishop told him the church needed remodeling but lacked enough money to complete the project and was relying on donations.
He agreed to contribute $200,000 on the condition that his donation remain anonymous, the lawsuit states.
On June 8, Habash allegedly went to Toma’s workplace and personally collected the entire $200,000 in cash.
Later that month, Toma spoke to a priest at the church and received a different account of its finances.
The priest allegedly told Toma that the church had always had enough money to pay for the remodeling itself and that no donation had ever come in, per the news outlet.
Toma alleges Habash instead kept the money for his personal use and filed a civil lawsuit against him in San Diego County Superior Court on Sept. 2.
Toma is seeking the return of his $200,000 plus damages. Habash has reportedly since left California for Michigan.
Our Mother of Perpetual Help is a Syriac Catholic church with deep ties to San Diego County’s Iraqi Christian community.
The Syriac Catholic faith traces its roots to ancient Christian traditions in the Middle East, with the church’s patriarchal seat now in Beirut, Lebanon.
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