A thief posed as a visiting priest to rob a Queens church — and he’s been linked to heists at homes of worship throughout the nation that netted tens of hundreds of {dollars}, cops and law-enforcement sources mentioned Friday.
Prolific pretend priest Malin Rostas’ nationwide rip-off was uncovered just a few months in the past when he was busted in California for attempting to steal from a church in Moreno Valley, about 60 miles from Los Angeles, whereas posing as “Father Martin,” authorities mentioned.
Now, the accused conman, of Queens, is again in New York Metropolis, having been extradited from the Golden State on Thursday to face fees for stealing from a Bayside parish in March.
Rostas, 45, placed on an harmless face when he entered American Martyrs RC Church on March 3 round 12:20 p.m., claiming he was a visiting priest hoping to officiate a Mass alongside the in-house clergy, Father Peter Rayder, 63, advised WNBC.
The fraudster claimed to the 85-year-old senior priest that he’d left one thing behind within the rectory — however as a substitute snuck into Rayder’s bed room and swooped up $900, he mentioned.
“I noticed him. I spoke to him. I mentioned, ‘What’s occurring?’ He mentioned, ‘I’m right here to concelebrate,’” Rayder advised the community.
When Rayder requested the phony priest if he had a letter from the bishop, he fibbed, “Oh, it’s in my automotive. I’ll go get it,” he mentioned.
That’s when Rostas made his getaway in a dark-colored sedan, heading south on Bell Boulevard, cops mentioned.
Rayder advised WABC in March that the burglar appeared well-researched, knew the names of the clergy and used the identical vocabulary as actual monks.
“He’s a vulture, he’s a vulture, gypsy, he is aware of what he’s doing,” Rayder mentioned.
He has stolen tens of hundreds of {dollars} from church buildings in New York alone, in keeping with sources.
Utilizing the identical pretend priest act, he’s additionally tried to burglarize St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Brooklyn, and the Sisters of Saint Dominic in Amityville, Suffolk County — however left empty-handed, in keeping with the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn.
Rayder was busted in Southern California for the tried church housebreaking on April 10, a couple of month after the Bayside heist.
On the time, he was additionally booked on an impressive warrant for a 2022 housebreaking from a Pennsylvania dwelling, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Workplace mentioned.
In October, the priest poser claiming to be “Father Martin” allegedly stole $500 from the rectory of St. Thomas Extra Catholic Church in Houston, Texas, and tried however did not do the identical at Dallas parishes, the Catholic Information Company reported.
He’s additionally believed to have stolen $1,770 from a parish in Oregon, and could possibly be accountable for related thefts in Ontario, Canada, in keeping with The New York Occasions.
Rostas was awaiting arraignment in Queens Felony Court docket Friday on fees of second-degree housebreaking and petit larceny, and prosecutors mentioned he could not seem earlier than a choose till someday over the weekend as a result of delays attributable to the worldwide Microsoft outage.
Diocese of Brooklyn spokesman John Quaglione mentioned in an announcement that he hopes the arrest ends Rostas’ alleged string of crimes towards church buildings.
“The Diocese of Brooklyn commends the New York Metropolis Police Division for his or her diligence on this case,” Quaglione mentioned. “It was the NYPD that issued a nationwide alert on this suspect after his theft at American Martyrs, which led to his preliminary arrest in California. This impostor priest will now face housebreaking fees in New York, and we hope that is the tip of his preying on church buildings.”
— Further reporting by Kyle Schnitzer and Khristina Narizhnaya
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