LANSING — A priest with alleged shady nonprofit dealings who once served as an assistant pastor at St. Mary of Good Counsel Catholic Church has been prohibited from fundraising with the Catholic Diocese of Lansing as well as had his faculties removed.

The Diocese of Lansing issued a statement in July regarding the Rev. William Auth, a priest with the Oblates of Saint Francis de Sales, and his nonprofit Maya Indian Missions Inc. The statement said Auth has been banned from fundraising within the diocese on behalf of the nonprofit and that his faculties to serve as priest had also been removed.

Priestly faculties is permission given to a priest to perform Sacraments. It usually only allows a priest to do so within his own diocese.

The diocese stated Auth had not had an assignment with them for nearly 30 years though he had fundraised for Maya Indian Missions, a nonprofit that serves the Maya people on the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico.

An investigation by watchdog group Roman Catholic Faithful alleges that Auth's nonprofit is at "high risk for fraud" and that Auth is unfit for ministry due to past inappropriate comments.

Roman Catholic Faithful is "a network of faithful laity, investigators and attorneys whose goal is to rid the Catholic Church of clerical corruption," according to its Facebook page.

The investigation looked at public financial records for Maya Indian Missions for the years 2013-16 and found that donated funds were either placed in an investment stock portfolio, paid to Auth via a W2 income form, reimbursed expenses or were transferred to Mexico.

In a video on the nonprofit's Facebook page from 2014, Auth said they purchased land in Mexico. However, according to public filings reviewed by Roman Catholic Faithful, the nonprofit owns no land, buildings or other assets, nor does it have employees other than Auth.

There are also allegations that Auth was associated with an accused child molester and ex-priest. The investigation by Roman Catholic Faithful said an alleged victim of the ex-priest said multiple victims were raped in Auth's garage at his cottage in Cement City.

One of the emails obtained by the watchdog group shows a picture of Auth standing with his arm around a child in what appears to be Mexico. In the email Auth wrote, "... the little guy with me is not my current lover , (sic) but he was a guide äsuncion" (sic) 12 years old and a great little kid!"

Roman Catholic Faithful stated in its investigation that Auth "should not be working with minors" and his nonprofit is a fraud risk or is being used for real estate development. The group recommended the Catholic Diocese of Lansing remove Auth's faculties, prohibit him from serving in any way and fundraising with the diocese.

Auth served at St. Mary's in Adrian in various roles during the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s. He was assigned to the church on July 1, 1977, as an assistant pastor, according to Patrick O'Brien, president and CEO of Faith Catholic — Diocese of Lansing Publishing and Communications.

He became temporary administrator on July 1, 1986, and was named pastor a year later, serving in that role until July 1, 1991.

O'Brien said Auth left to focus on mission work after his stint at St. Mary's. It is unknown if Auth ever subbed at St. Mary's in the years that followed as the diocese does not keep those records.

"Prior to (Lansing) Bishop (Earl) Boyea removing his priestly faculties in the Diocese of Lansing earlier this month, Rev. Auth was a priest in good standing in the Diocese of Lansing and would have been available to sub in parishes within the diocese," O'Brien said in an email.

The Lansing diocese said in its statement the case has been forwarded to the Michigan Department of Attorney General.

Maya Indian Missions released a statement on its Facebook page responding to the diocese's decision calling the information "factually incorrect and misleading."

"The Maya Indian Missions Board of Directors are cooperating fully with the investigation into this matter and have 100% confidence the truth will come out," the post said. "We are working with our attorney to address this situation."