Thursday, June 16, 2011

Alberta priest charged with fraud relieved of duties

A Ukrainian Orthodox priest from St. Paul, Alta., accused of bringing dozens of Polish workers into Canada under false pretenses and profiting from their labour, has been relieved of his church duties.

Father John Lipinski, 43, his wife Angela, 42, and business partner Calvin Steinhauer, 38, of Goodfish Lake, Alta., are charged under the Immigration Refugee Protection Act.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada confirmed Thursday that Lipinski has stopped working as a priest in St. Paul for the time being. He has not been formally removed from his post.

The archbishop of the church, Metropolitan Yurij Kalistchuk said he's shocked by the allegations.

In a written statement, Lipinski's lawyer Robbie Davidson said Lipinski and his wife "vehemently deny" the allegations and will "vigorously defend" themselves.
Read the rest here.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I don't know why Metr. Yurij is "shocked" because there was an article way back in 2007 in the Edmonton Journal and the priest was mentioned by name.
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/cityplus/story.html?id=1d737209-e9fe-4d9b-b8d5-665f169fbaaf
Rev. John Lipinski and his wife Angela face "human trafficing Charges" and will be in provincial court on July 25th.