A high-ranking California Catholic bishop who allegedly took more than a dozen trips to aMexican brothel known for human traffickingand misused parish funds was arrested at San Diego International Airport while trying to flee the country.
Bishop Emanuel Shaleta, 60, a senior figure in the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle, was arrested Thursday by San Diego Sheriff’s deputies following a months-long investigation.
“On Thursday, March 5, 2026, Bishop Emmanuel Shaleta was contacted and detained at the San Diego International Airport attempting to leave the country,”the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Shaleta faces eight counts of embezzlement, eight counts of money laundering, and one count of aggravated white-collar crime, officials said.
The arrest comesafter Catholic news outlet The Pillar reported last monththat the bishop allegedly diverted rental payments from church property for personal use and later covered his tracks with charity funds.
Over $427,000 is unaccounted for — but the true number could be as high as $1 million, the outlet reported.
The Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that it was contacted by someone from St. Peter Chaldean Church in August 2025.
“The church representative provided a statement and documents showing potential embezzlement from the church,” it said, without elaborating.
The Pillar also obtained documents from a Vatican-ordered investigation into Shaleta that alleged the bishop regularly crossed the border from San Diego to Tijuana, Mexico, to visit a strip club.
A private investigator documented Shaleta using a shuttle “exclusive to the club’s patrons” to visit the Hong Kong Gentlemen’s Club in Tijuana, the outlet reported.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
