Italian priest gambles away half a million euros, receives treatment for addiction

An Italian court has handed a two-year suspended sentence to a priest, and ordered him to undergo a therapy course for uncontrolled gambling, after he lost more than €500,000 ($619,000) of diocesan funds in casinos.

Don Flavio Gobbo, 48, was given a two-year suspended sentence for embezzlement last week, according to Italian media. The priest from the Venice province had been gambling for some two years, spending money from his parish of San Vito and Modesto.

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Citing fatigue, the man fled the area in October 2016 before the gap in the budget emerged.

Gobbo confessed his crimes before the court, saying he had been struggling with a gambling addiction for a while, but used to bet with his own money. Following a prosecution request, the priest was also ordered to undergo treatment program, which he said he already underwent in the past. He was also told to fully reimburse the lost sum.