Credit: Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of St Peter the Apostle

A senior leader in the Chaldean Catholic Church was arrested Thursday at San Diego International Airport while allegedly attempting to board an international flight.

Bishop Emanuel Shaleta, head of a Chaldean Catholic church in El Cajon, California, was detained by deputies as he was reportedly trying to leave the country, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

The Chaldean Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church, with roots in ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq).

Bishop Emanuel Hana Shaleta (Bishop Emanuel Shaleta) was born in Fishkabour-Zakho, Iraq.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Shaleta, 69, was arrested at the airport Thursday and booked into jail on suspicion of eight counts each of embezzlement and money laundering, along with an enhancement for aggravated white-collar crime. Authorities set bail at $125,000.

According to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office:

On August 19, 2025, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by a representative from St. Peter Chaldean Church, which is located at 1627 Jamacha Way in Unincorporated El Cajon.

The church representative provided a statement and documents showing potential embezzlement from the church. Upon completion of the initial investigation, the case was forwarded to and investigated by the Sheriff’s Fraud Unit.

On Thursday, March 5, 2026, Bishop Emmanuel Shaleta was contacted and detained at the San Diego International Airport attempting to leave the country. He was arrested for eight counts of 508 PC – Embezzlement, eight counts of 186.10(a) PC – Money Laundering, and one count of 186.11(a)(1) PC – Aggravated White Collar Crime Enhancement.

Shaleta was transported and booked at the San Diego Central Jail for the aforementioned charges. He is currently being held on $125,000 bail and a hold under Penal Code section 1275.1 was approved by the court.

The arrest stems from an investigation launched by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Fraud Unit in August 2025, after church representatives reported potential financial irregularities.

Authorities allege that Shaleta misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars from St. Peter Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in El Cajon.

Documents reviewed by investigators indicate that rental payments for a church-owned property were directed to Shaleta in cash, which went unaccounted for, and he later attempted to reimburse the funds using checks from the cathedral’s charity account signed by himself. Estimates of the missing funds range from $427,000 to as much as $1 million.

More from The Pillar:

A private investigator’s report sent to the Vatican last year 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.”

The report also documented 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 post Top Chaldean Catholic Church Leader Arrested at San Diego Airport While Allegedly Attempting to Flee on International Flight appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Caiden Stachowicz faces seven years in prison for setting fire to GOP Rep. Glenn Grothman’s office.

Caiden Stachowicz faces seven years in prison for setting fire to GOP Rep. Glenn Grothman’s office.

Stachowicz pleaded no contest to an arson charge in November.

Prosecutors dropped burglary and property damage counts in exchange for Stachowicz’s no contest plea.

According to police reports police saw Stachowicz standing near the office when they responded to a fire call.

Stachowicz admitted to setting the fire at the scene when the police arrived.

According to the AP, “He said he wanted to burn down the office because the federal government was shutting down TikTok in violation of his constitutional rights and peace was no longer an option.”

WBAY-TV reported on the young arsonist.

The post Wisconsin Man Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Setting Fire to Rep. Glenn Grothman’s Office – Blames TikTok Ban appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Hungarian counter terrorism officers in action, arresting the Ukrainians – Screengrab Social Media/Telegram

The money and gold were headed to Kiev.

The conflict between Hungary and Ukraine saw an explosive development today, as 7 Ukrainians, including a former intelligence general, were arrested by Hungarian counter terrorism forces.

The arrested Ukrainians were trying to transport $80 million and 9 kilos of gold from Vienna, Austria, to the Ukrainian capital of Kiev.

WATCH: Video of Hungarian Counter Terrorism Centre catching Zelensky’s money and gold convoy https://t.co/MkM0WfHKYV pic.twitter.com/1Nqnjf46mw

— RT (@RT_com) March 6, 2026

The men, employees of the state-owned Oschadbank, are suspected of money laundering.

Ukrainian vehicles carrying $40 million Dollars,€35 million Euros, and approximately nine kilograms of gold were detained by Hungarian police.

They had collected the cash and gold in Austria and were heading for Kiev. pic.twitter.com/mDzLEUA0s1

— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) March 6, 2026

As one would expect, Ukraine protested the arrests.

“Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the seven Ukrainians were transporting funds between Austria and Ukraine as part of a routine banking operation when Hungarian authorities stopped the convoy in Budapest.

’In fact, we are talking about Hungary taking hostages and stealing money’, Sybiha wrote on X. ‘If this is the ‘force’ announced earlier today by Mr. Orbán, then it is the force of a criminal gang. This is state terrorism and racketeering’.”

“Oschadbank said two armored vehicles were detained during a regular transfer between Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank and the Ukrainian state lender. ‘These are funds entrusted to the bank by citizens and businesses of Ukraine. They were transported from Austria for further use in circulation and saturation of the cash market of Ukraine. The total amount of Oschadbank funds, the fate of which is currently unknown, is 40 million US dollars, 35 million euros, 9 kg of gold’, the bank said in a statement.”

Ukrainian consuls have still not been permitted access to seven Ukrainian citizens taken hostage in Budapest. The Hungarian side has not provided any explanation. We demand their immediate release and prepare next actions, including at the EU level.

— Andrii Sybiha (@andrii_sybiha) March 6, 2026

Read more:

WATCH: Zelensky Casually Threatens to Unleash Ukrainian Military on Hungary’s Viktor Orbán for Blocking €90 billion EU Aid

The post WATCH: Hungarian Counter Terrorism Forces Arrest 7 Ukrainians Suspected of Money Laundering, Seize $80 Million and 9 Kilograms of Gold appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.