A Bronx pastor, accused of fleecing female members of his flock, went to court yesterday and denied breaking the Eighth Commandment.
He said nothing about No. 7.
Bishop Adriano Acosta said that he did not steal anything and was only borrowing money on behalf of his church, and that one of the parishioners had been paid more than half of what she is owed.
“My client denies all the allegations, and he is innocent until proven guilty,” said his lawyer, Pura DeJesus Coniglio
But Nydia Lomba said she received only about $1,400 of the $15,000 she said she lent the married minister during a three-year affair, and filed a civil suit.
Acosta had no comment on his alleged adultery.
The Eighth Commandment forbids stealing. The Seventh forbids adultery.
Lomba, 49, is one of several women who claim to have lent Acosta money for the evangelical Protestant Iglesia de Dios Fuente de Vida – Church of God Fountain of Life – located in a St. Lawrence Avenue storefront.
The women, some of whom said they dated Acosta, said the pastor told them the church needed money for rent, electric bills and repairs.
“I feel very frustrated and used by him,” Lomba said. “They really took advantage of me.
“He’s trying to portray himself as a good man by saying that he repaid his debt. But he didn’t, and he’s not.”