Lawyer/priest disciplined following fraud finding

An attorney and priest in the American Catholic Church was disciplined by the State Bar after he took collection money from a church he was hired to incorporate and installed himself as its owner and chief executive officer. LUCIEN DIERICKX [#181960], 62, of Temecula was suspended for two years, stayed, placed on three years of probation and was ordered to take the MPRE within a year. The order took effect March 2.

Both the Los Angeles Superior Court and its appellate division ruled against Dierickx and ordered him to pay $11,903 plus interest and costs to the Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity (CCHT), a congregation that broke away from one diocese and sought to join another.

The American Catholic Church, according to its Web site, is a federation of independent churches offering “a progressive alternative in the Catholic tradition.” It considers itself more inclusive than the Roman Catholic Church, and among other differences, its priests are allowed to marry.

In 1999, the mostly Hispanic CCHT congregation led by Father Armando Leyva sought to join the Diocese of St. Matthews, whose bishop, the Right Rev. Peter Hickman, instructed Leyva to incorporate under state law. Hickman referred Leyva to Dierickx.

Dierickx began the incorporation process by reserving a name and filing articles of incorporation.

However, according to a stipulation reached between Dierickx and the State Bar, Dierickx filed a false document that named him and others as officers of the CCHT. A couple of months later, they withdrew $10,475 of the church’s funds, derived from four months of collections, transferred the money to another bank and closed the church’s bank account. The next day, Dierickx announced that he was the owner and chief executive officer of the Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity. According to the stipulation, he also said he would close the church’s bank account the next day, when in fact, he had already closed it.

Later the same month, Dierickx told Hickman the bishop had no authority over him or CCHT and that he intended to terminate Leyva.

Hickman then defrocked Dierickx, revoking his privilege to celebrate Mass and removing his name from the rolls of the religious affiliation, and the bishop removed him as a member and officer of both CCHT and the corporation. When the church demanded that Dierickx and the others return its money, they refused, according to the stipulation.

For several months, Dierickx continued to represent that he was the church’s priest and chief executive officer.

The church sued Dierickx, his wife and a third defendant for fraud, conspiracy, breach of fiduciary contract and conversion, and claimed that Leyva and others were the duly elected board of directors of the church, responsible for its management.

After a nine-day trial, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Albert D. Matthews found that Dierickx made false representations, with an intent to deceive, in incorporating the church. The judge said Dierickx’s actions were meant to “control and take advantage of a lay group of trusting people, limited in understanding the English language.”

Ruling from the bench, Matthews said that Dierickx and his co-defendants “took, converted and stole, S-T-O-L-E, the plaintiff’s money from the Wells Fargo Bank.” He added that Dierickx’s conduct, as an attorney and as a priest, “was despicable, malicious, oppressive, with the willful and conscious disregard for the legal rights of the true congregation led by [Leyva].”

The judge found all three defendants guilty of conversion and granted judgment against Dierickx alone on the fraud and deceit charges.

Dierickx satisfied the judgment and paid the church $11,908.78.

On appeal, Dierickx argued that he was never hired as Leyva’s lawyer and did not incorporate the church for Leyva. He also asserted that there was insufficient evidence to support a finding of fraud and that as president of CCHT, he had the authority to handle bank transactions on behalf of the church.

The appellate division denied his claims.

Throughout the bar proceedings, Dierickx, who has no prior record of discipline, maintained that he had a reasonable belief that he was president of the church and had the right to act on its behalf.

He stipulated that he committed acts of moral turpitude by filing a false statement, taking the church’s funds and closing its bank account without its consent, misrepresenting when the account was closed and by failing to return the church’s funds.