A Catholic priest is being investigated by police after the disappearance of £270,000 that was donated to help refugee families.

Father Amer Saka is a former priest of St Joseph's Chaldean Catholic Church in London, Ontario in Canada.

London police confirmed to Christian Today that an investigation is underway but declined to comment further.

Saka was placed immediately on sabbatical, sent to rehab and is now reported to be at a monastery and is unavailable for comment. 

According to Saka's newly-appointed Chaldean bishop Emanuel Shaleta, the priest told him he no longer had the money after one donor queried what had happened to it. Up until that point, the bishop did not know about his priest's connection with fundraising of this nature, even though Saka had been receiving donations for three years.

"He was supposed to let me know as a new bishop," Shaleta told VICE. "He did not tell me."

Shaleta added: "He told me he gambled the money away, but I don't know if that's true. How can I believe him?"

The money was for refugees from Syria and Iraq. Sponsorship costs about £4,200 per person person or £14,000 for a family. 

The London Catholic Diocese told London Free Press: "When stories like this occur, we are concerned about the impact it can have on our refugee ministry." The diocese emphasised that St Joseph's is an eastern-rite church and not part of the London diocese, which has stringent controls on refugee donations.

The Islamic Centre of Southwestern Ontario and other Christian churches also raise funds for the refugees but none of these efforts is connected to St Joseph's.

According to Monsignor Murray Kroetsch, chancellor of the Catholic diocese of Hamilton, which runs the sponsorship program, Saka was the leader of a group raising funds to sponsor refugees from Iraq.

He told the Star that up to 20 Iraqi refugee applications had been sponsored by Saka and all now faced a potential void of financial backing. As a result, the Hamilton diocese has pledged to support them.

"We want to assure the refugees that our part of our agreement is looked after and that money will be provided to help them feel secure and help them find their footing in the country," he said.