A man accused of pretending to be a monk to con a County Antrim religious community had addresses for monasteries around the world, a court has heard.
Prosecutors said the details were found on Francesco Ferro, 27, when he was arrested for allegedly raiding Our Lady of Bethlehem Abbey in Portglenone. Mr Ferro faces charges of burglary, converting criminal property and multiple counts of fraud.He was refused bail amid fears that he may flee if released.
The Romanian, of no known address, is fluent in five different languages and used different aliases to travel across Europe, the High Court was told.He was also said to be under investigation in connection with other alleged thefts in Switzerland and Germany.
Mr Ferro was detained in July after police called to investigate a £500 theft from a room in the monastery allegedly matched his fingerprint to a broken window. At a previous hearing it was disclosed that the accused first turned up in May when the abbey was expecting the arrival of a Brazilian Benedictine monk and immediately fell into the monastery's daily routine.
Among the offences he is accused of is unauthorised use of the monastery's credit card. Mr Ferro allegedly obtained food and return flights to Italy during his stay, and bought a local family a television, washing machine, microwave and other items.
Prosecution lawyer Barry Valentine told the court: "It is notable in this case that he was asked to leave the monastery after being detected yet came back the next day and committed further crimes.
"I'm also told that among his possessions was a list of addresses for every monastery in the world, which would also suggest a risk of re-offending."
With the accused said to have made a number of admissions, a hearing to determine whether he will stand trial has been set for next month. Defence counsel Gary McHugh acknowledged the points made about refusing bail, but criticised delays in progressing the case. He said: "It would appear that for a period of approximately two and a half to three months no positive action was taken by the prosecution to move this forward."
No comments:
Post a Comment