Moscow police have arrested an imposter monk on suspicion of selling a nonexistent car and a nonexistent place in the Defense Ministry's cadet corps.
The unidentified Moscow resident, posing as the head of the Nikolo-Babayevsky Monastery in the Kostroma region, was detained Tuesday when he showed up to collect money from an acquaintance whom he had promised a foreign-made car that belonged to the Moscow Patriarchate at a discounted price, police said.
A subsequent investigation found that the suspect, who also posed as a monk, had promised a woman that he could get her daughter enrolled in the Defense Ministry's cadet corps in exchange for 5,000 euros ($6,500).
"Having received the full amount, the conman disappeared," police said in a statement.
The suspect has been charged with two counts of fraud and, if convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison, RIA-Novosti reported. The Tverskoi District Court has ordered that he be kept in custody pending trial.
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