This scandal involved accusations that Italian real estate developer Raffaello Follieri misappropriated an investment from

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and billionaire Ronald Burkle meant to buy

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churches in the

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. Follieri ultimately pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges in the U.S. and was sentenced to prison. On July 15, 2008, Bishop Joseph Anthony Galante of the Diocese of Camden,

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, was implicated in the scandal by a ''

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'' article titled "A Deal with the Devil" that revealed that Follieri had bought Galante's beach house for $400,000 in 2007 shortly after Galante began the study that resulted in his 2008 announcement to sell off half of the Diocese's church properties. Following disclosure of the bishop's involvement in Vati-Con, the Council of Parishes of Southern New Jersey demanded "a complete halt to the Bishop’s planned church closure program". The Galante/Follieri beach house was put back on the market in 2008 and sold almost two years later for $310,000. On July 24, 2008, the ''

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'' reported that during a second raid of Follieri's apartment in New York City, the

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had confiscated the private journals of Follieri's former girlfriend, American film actress

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, as part of their ongoing investigation into the scandal. Hathaway did not face any charges related to the scandal. In October 2008, Follieri pleaded guilty in

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to the charges, and

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John Koeltl imposed a 4½ year prison sentence. He was released on May 25, 2012, from a federal prison in Pennsylvania. The

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deported Follieri to

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on May 25, 2012, immediately after his release from prison. By 2018, Follieri had returned to being an investor and says he is once again on good terms with Burkle, who he said was among the group of investors helping him acquire 50 percent in the Foggia Calcio soccer club in Southern Italy.

References

External links

* — criminal complaint * {{cite press release , url = https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/nys/pressreleases/October08/follieriraffaellosentencingpr.pdf , date=2008-10-23 , title = Raffaello Follieri Sentenced to Four and a Half Years in Prison for Fraud and Money Laundering , publisher=United States Attorney, Southern District of New York , access-date=2022-12-08 , url-status=live , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170219185607/https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/nys/pressreleases/October08/follieriraffaellosentencingpr.pdf , archive-date = 2017-02-19 2008 crimes in New Jersey 2008 in New York City Post-presidency of Bill Clinton Finance fraud Scandals in Christian organizations