Former bishop Rt Rev Riah Abu al-Assal denies fraud charges

Black Collar Crime

Former bishop denies fraud charges
Wednesday, 20th February 2008. 12:21pm
By: George Conger.

THE FORMER Bishop in Jerusalem has denied accusations of fraud and theft brought by his successor. In a Feb 6 statement the Rt Rev Riah Abu al-Assal disputed the financial misconduct charges leveled by the Rt Rev Suheil Dawani, hitting back with his own charges of conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy.

In a Jan 29 statement given to The Church of England Newspaper Bishop Dawani alleged that shortly before Bishop Riah’s retirement in 2007, Bishop Riah transferred the assets of the diocesan school to a charitable trust.

“Members of the charity include Bishop Riah's wife and nephew. Through this charity, Bishop Riah, is collecting the tuition from the students and is not depositing the monies in the school's official bank account, whilst, all the employees at the school are official Diocesan institution employees and receive their salaries from the Diocese,” he said.

The issue was brought to a head, Bishop Suheil said, when Bishop Riah refused to vacate the diocese’s Nazareth offices, claiming they were his own property.



More:
http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=1647