It is amazing the depths that some people that some people will go to steal property.  There is a story from the city of Ripon in the San Joaquin Valley, California about a Reverend who stole the Church right out from under the parish, sold it, and drove around town flaunting it. The pastor who led the parish for over a decade stole the church. And the amazing part, he also convinced a fellow inmate who was in jail with him to confess to a crime, so he could use that to get an early release. Now the pastor is looking to monetize the crime with a book.

All the while, the church is tied up in lawsuits as the congregation and the buyer try to determine who is the rightful owner. There is a cold place in hell for this man.

The church was basically senior citizens, people in their 80s, 90s and close to 100,” Prater said. “He was their favorite son.”

Radic’s pulpit was in a wooden, 90-year-old chapel, and he lived in a church-owned house a few blocks away.

“This is a town with a lot of faith,” said Navid Fardanesh, president of the Ripon Chamber of Commerce. “People had a lot of trust in him, and unfortunately he took advantage of the situation.”

First, Radic faked documents giving him possession of the parsonage, and used the property to take out about $200,000 in personal loans, prosecutors said. Then he forged papers saying he had the power to sell the church, and sold it to a couple for $525,000.

After investigators began inquiring about the $102,000 BMW, Radic fled to Denver. Prosecutors coaxed him back, and he was arrested in 2005. via the AP

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