California bishop with alleged fondness for Tijuana strip club arrested at airport while making run for the border

Bishop Emanuel Shaleta was arrested at the San Diego International Airport before he could flee the country.

Shaleta, 60, is a high-ranking Catholic Bishop in the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle, and was wanted for allegedly embezzling money from the church. According to a press release issued by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office, a church representative came forward with the information, and a cursory investigation resulted in the case being forwarded to the office’s fraud department.

“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,” the statement explained.

The shocking arrest comes months after The Pillar, a Catholic news outlet, the bishop was using rental payments for church properties for personal use.

From the outlet:

Records show that the rent for the hall that month was paid to the parish, not from an external source, but from another parish-based bank account, kept separately as a fund for financial assistance to the poor.

Records reviewed by The Pillar indicate that when parish leaders asked Shaleta about it, the bishop said he had instructed the management company to pay him the full amount in cash, so that he could distribute money to needy families directly, and that he had “reimbursed” the parish with money from the financial assistance account.

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When finance council members checked past bank records — which have also been reviewed by The Pillar — they discovered that eight months’ worth of rent checks had been written to the parish from its own financial assistance account, all of them signed by Shaleta.

But where was the alleged missing money going?

“Among the allegations reported to the Vatican by Chaldean Catholics is that Shaleta regularly crossed the border from San Diego to Tijuana, Mexico during late night hours to visit a large strip club where prostitution is regularly practiced,” The Pillar reported. “A private investigator’s report submitted to the Dicastery for Eastern Catholic Churches reported the allegation that Shaleta made late-night border crossings more than one dozen times in a single month, and only decreased that practice to a ‘couple times a week’ after the bishop was questioned about it directly.”

The particular brothel where Shaleta’s car was reportedly seen, Hong Kong Gentlemen’s Club, has been described as “a brothel where trafficked women and girls are forced to work in the sex trade” by human rights journalists.

Additionally, a joint bank account between Shaleta and “a woman who was the parish secretary when Shaleta was a pastor in Michigan” was reportedly uncovered.

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

The Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of St. Peter the Apostle is continuing to support the bishop, according to a statement released on their website.

“After hearing all of the critics and attacks against our Eparchy and Bishop, we ask the Lord to protect our Eparchy and Bishop from all of the negative attacks. We are in solidarity with our Eparchy and Bishop. We are awaiting the decision on this matter. Please continue to keep this Eparchy in your prayers and remain faithful to the salvific mission of Christ,” it reads.

Shaleta is being held on $125,000 bail.

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Sierra Marlee

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Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.

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