Gambling pastor imprisoned for begging fraud
A Swiss pastor who fraudulently begged parishioners for money to fuel his gambling habit has been handed a three-year suspended jail sentence and must serve six months behind bars.
The former clergyman conned CHF3.3 million ($3.4 million) out of his flock by asking for loans between 2009 and 2018 to pay off his gambling debts.
But rather than being cured of his gambling habit, he used the money to fund fresh losing sprees at casinos, where he played roulette and blackjack.
In 2018, the pastor resigned from his position from the Catholic church in Küssnacht am Rigi in the central canton of Schwyz.
Some of his 70 victims complained about his behaviour when he filed for bankruptcy the following year.
The court handed down a lenient sentence in light of the convicted man’s full confession and contrition and his willingness to take part in therapy to treat his gambling addiction.
“Without his cooperation, we would have been unable to locate many of his victims,” a prosecutor told Swiss public broadcaster SRF.
Now aged 52, the former pastor lives in a monastery.
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