Baptist fundamentalists from the former Soviet Union are praying for one of their own — a Pennsylvania pastor indicted last week for being part of a massive Ukrainian insider-trading ring.
Vitaly Korchevsky, the pastor of the Slavic Evangelical Baptist Church of Brookhaven, Pa., since its inception in 2003, was arrested on Aug. 11, along with four other Ukrainians living in the US and connected to the alleged $30 million scheme.
“It’s very painful situation for us and for the church,” Andrey Chumakin, the pastor of the Slavic Baptist Church in Washington state, told The Post.
Korchevsky has been a leader of the tight-knit religious community of Soviet immigrants for 10 years.
“I know he is good and honest Christian,” said Chumakin, one of several religious leaders who wrote to the court asking for Korchevsky to be released on bail.
Prosecutors have asked the court to keep the pastor locked up, saying his frequent travels to Ukraine and Russia make him an “extreme flight risk.”
Korchevsky’s lawyer Steve Brill has asked for $1 million bail.
Supporters also wrote emails to The Post proclaiming Korchevsky’s innocence.
“Everyone who knows him (over 5,000 people), know that he was set up by his workers,” said one person, who requested anonymity.
The feds claim that Korchevsky, 49, partnered with fellow Ukrainian immigrant Arkadiy Dubovoy, 50, the alleged mastermind.
Emails between Korchevsky and others allegedly in the scheme discuss specifics of a scam, court papers charge.
Korchevsky wasn’t able to tend to his flock last Sunday, but a substitute pastor read a letter Korchevsky wrote to the parish.
“I am fine, I am calm, and I know in my heart I am clean before the Lord,” Korchevsky wrote, according to a report on philly.com.