Chaldeans confirm investigation into missing money, bishop denies wrongdoing

Cardinal Sako confirms considering transfer of bishop but denies canvassing support

A Chaldean Catholic bishop under investigation for embezzlement urged Catholics Sunday to “defend my integrity and transparency,” as he attempted to explain charges that he misappropriated more than $400,000 in Church funds. The bishop claimed he was the victim of a “vicious” and well-funded “media campaign.”

Bishop Emanuel Shaleta addresses the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle, Feb. 22. Credit: St. Peter Chaldean Catholic Eparchy.

On Saturday, Chaldean patriarch Cardinal Louis Sako confirmed to The Pillar that while he had suggested the possibility of transferring the bishop to another assignment, it was because “the situation was not clear at the time.”

But Catholics in the eparchy have told The Pillar they have grown frustrated with waiting for a decision on the future of the diocese, several months after the conclusion of a Vatican-ordered investigation.

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The Pillar reported Thursday that Bishop Emanuel Shaleta, leader of the Chaldean Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle, based in California, had submitted his resignation from office after a Vatican-ordered investigation into charges that the bishop had taken hundreds in thousands of cash from his cathedral, attempting to reimburse missing funds with checks signed by him from a cathedral charity account.

But in his San Diego cathedral on Sunday, Shaleta insisted that he had not taken money, and that he was the victim of a media campaign and of Chaldeans in his diocese who opposed his leadership.

“Many of you have heard the news on social media, about Shaleta — myself — and about how I handled the Church money. I have never in my priestly life or episcopal life abused any of the Church money. On the contrary, I have done my best to preserve and manage the donations of the Church properly,” the bishop said Feb. 22, as his cathedral’s Sunday liturgy concluded.

“One donor from the community gave me money to give to the poor and to the needy. He told me, ‘I trust you, [Bishop], and I will not ask for any receipts —- give this money to the poor that you know.’”

While the bishop insisted that he did give money to the poor, he told his congregation Sunday that “a financial committee member of our Church reported to the Vatican that there were monies missing. He mentioned that money that was dedicated for the poor. When he asked me about it, I said that money was given for the purpose to be given to the poor and I gave it to the poor. He then gathered paperwork from the Church files without my consent, and sent them to Rome. The Vatican did an investigation about me without even notifying me.”

The Pillar reported, after examining supporting documentation, that the bishop is accused of directing that hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent due from a diocesan property be paid to him personally, in cash, and was never deposited, with the bishop instead transferring money to cover the missing rent from an eparchial fund for the poor.

But the Vatican’s investigation, the bishop said, prompted him to write “a letter to the Vatican saying: ‘If you doubt me, and you don’t even trust me, I will resign from my work.’”

Shaleta did not indicate when that letter of resignation was sent. Instead, he said Sunday that he has a good track record of financial administration, and that he had worked in the St. Peter eparchy to pay off debt and increase revenue.

“But some people were not happy and had other agendas. They think they can control even the Church of Christ,” the bishop explained.

Elaborating, the bishop explained his view that “there is a mean and vicious media campaign funded by very rich people against the Chaldean Church and its clergy. Therefore, I ask all of you who actually attended this Holy Mass and witnessed the service that we are all offering to the Lord, I ask that during this holy Lenten season, to pray for those people, and enlighten their souls and minds, so that negative, evil people will not control the Church, and so that those people will not spread scandals among the simple and good Christian faithful, fabricating even other lies to prove their points.”

The bishop asked for prayers, and for the support of his people.

“I am not a rich person with big social influence, and I don’t have a rich family to fight those people. All I have are the Church people, yourselves, that I have sincerely served faithfully for 42 years as a priest and as a bishop. You are the only one who can believe me and defend my integrity and transparency in the Church financial matters and in life.”

Bishop Emanuel Shaleta.

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While Shaleta insisted that he had managed finances transparently, he did not address directly reports that he had directed a parish tenant and others to make cash payments to the parish, taken the cash, and then “reimbursed” the parish with checks from its charity account, signed by him.

But those reports — and banking records reviewed by The Pillar — indicate that at least $427,345 in cash was appropriated by Shaleta in 2024 — with corresponding “reimbursement checks” drawn from the parish charity account and all signed by the bishop.

In documents reviewed by The Pillar, Shaleta claimed the cash he took had been distributed for charity in both the U.S. and several other countries, but the bishop did not have substantiating paperwork confirming distributions, nor did he explain why he accepted rent and other payments in cash for charitable purposes, rather than withdraw funds directly from the charity account.

Nor did Shaleta’s remarks address directly a private investigator’s report, which recounted allegations that the bishop had regularly visited Hong Kong Gentlemen’s Club in Tijuana, flagged by human rights journalists as “a brothel where trafficked women and girls are forced to work in the sex trade.”

That retired FBI special agent Wade Dudley told The Pillar that the bishop’s car had been observed “in a parking lot exclusively for patrons of Hong Kong, and we have seen him walking to the border and across the border, and we have seen him get picked up by a third-party ride share that exclusively takes customers to that establishment.”

Nor did the bishop’s Sunday remarks address other accounts of misconduct on Shaleta’s part, including an unusual and longstanding situation in the bishop’s personal life.

Shaleta has held for years a joint personal bank account with a woman who was the parish secretary when Shaleta was a pastor in Michigan.

In 2025 the bank account’s balance was in excess of $40,000, and appeared to receive regular deposits from Shaleta.

When Shaleta became in 2015 the eparch for Chaldean Catholics in Canada, the woman “started making frequent visits to Toronto, staying either at a nearby hotel or at his house,” the private detective noted.

In 2017, Shaleta was appointed to lead the Chaldean Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle of San Diego.

The bishop relocated to San Diego in August 2017, and the woman “immediately moved to San Diego,” the detective’s report said.

Dudley documented that “Shaleta has unfettered access to the [woman’s] home” — entering regularly by using the garage door code, and visiting during the day several times each week.

In turn, the woman “has keys to [his] home… and has been observed using her keys to open the door.”

She had, the detective reported, “visited [Shaleta’s] home for a prolonged period of time on multiple occasions.”

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While Shaleta made his remarks in San Diego, the Chaldean Patriarchate in Baghdad released a statement on the subject this weekend.

“Some members of the diocese have submitted complaints regarding the integrity of His Excellency Bishop Emmanuel Shaleta concerning the handling of certain diocesan funds, as well as allegations of personal relationships,” the statement said, but alleged that “social media outlets published the news without verifying the accuracy of the information.”

“There are also positive testimonies from clergy and committed lay faithful who serve the diocese.These matters require evidence, documentation, and time. The Holy See, with the knowledge of the Patriarchate, has initiated thorough investigations to reveal the truth and to take a just and impartial decision so that no one may be wronged.”

In emailed comments to The Pillar, Cardinal Sako pushed back on claims that he had solicited bishops and other Chaldean Catholics to send letters of support for Shaleta to the Vatican, which was reported by The Pillar last week — with several sources saying bishops had been urged to write supportive letters on Shaleta’s behalf.

“I never asked the bishops to support Bishop Emmanuel Shaleta, but if some have written then they did so entirely on their own initiative,” Sako told The Pillar.

The patriarch did confirm The Pillar’s report that he had suggested the possibility of transferring Shaleta to a patriarchate post in Iraq.

Sako said he made that suggestion amid a recent conversation about the prospect of the bishop’s resignation. And, he said, when he proposed a possible transfer, “the situation was not clear at the time.”

In that context, he said, “I had suggested that we wait until the outcome was clear and that perhaps a transfer might be a better solution.”

But getting clarity on the facts, the cardinal said, is important.

“I am committed to following the truth and upholding once all matters are fully clarified,” he told The Pillar. “I will follow the decisions and assessments of the Holy See.”

While Sako said he was waiting for clarity, sources close to the investigation say it should be readily available — the Vatican-ordered investigation reportedly concluded in October, with sources telling The Pillar that the Dicastery for Consecrated Life received a report on the case months ago.

Senior Chaldean sources have told The Pillar that Sako has dragged his feet on nominating an apostolic administrator for the eparcy, and that that Sako has continued to express hope in recent months that Shaleta might be allowed to take up a position in the patriarchate’s administration.

In his email to The Pillar Sako also added that in Iraq, misinformation campaigns on social media have “caused much confusion and even scandals … which have affected our Church in Baghdad a great deal.”

It is not clear whether the bishop was suggesting that such campaigns have impacted his assessment of reports about Shaleta, but he added that “some misinformation has been exploited by certain militias and political groups that are hostile towards the Church and the message of the Gospel.”

“In the meantime, we await the outcome of this case with patience, prudence, and prayer, especially during this season of Lent,” Sako added.

The cardinal declined a telephonic interview with The Pillar, indicating that he is at the moment “very busy.”

He also explained that he had asked Shaleta not to give any interviews “until the truth is fully clarified.”

While The Pillar requested permission for an interview with Shaleta, Sako said the bishop is “very tired,” but added that an interview might be possible “later.”