Massachusetts priest pleads guilty to online scam
November 18, 2016
A retired priest in Massachusetts has pleaded guilty to charges of profiting from a fraudulent online dating scheme.
Father Thomas Fleming, a retired priest of the Worcester diocese, had been arrested last year in Florida and charged with 12 counts of money-laundering. In exchange for his guilty plea, he will escape further jail time. He will, however, be required to restore $90,000: his reported share in profits from the online scheme.
An attorney for Father Fleming said that the priest was not aware that women were being bilked when they wired money into bank accounts that he controlled.
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