MONTREAL - A professed holy man has been charged with committing an unholy act: defrauding the popular Quebec zoo Parc Safari out of nearly $1 million in an alleged scheme involving two of his followers.

Provincial police arrested three people Tuesday including Rev. Mwinda Lezoka, 47, a pastor who heads an evangelical church catering to Montreal's African community.

Also arrested Tuesday were husband-and-wife congregation members: Ruth Eugene, 38, a former accountant for Parc Safari, and her spouse Jasmin St-Louis, 43.

Lezoka and Eugene face charges of fraud and of producing false documents, while St-Louis faces fraud charges stemming from the alleged $978,000 scheme against Parc Safari.

A lengthy investigation revealed that 37 electronic money transfers were allegedly made from an account belonging to Parc Safari, starting in 2005, to an unknown company without authorization.

The transactions took place over three years. Despite the substantial sums involved, it was only in May 2008 that the zoo noticed something amiss.

"They received a cheque from an individual that they'd never done business with. (So) they started making some verifications with their financial institution following this discovery and that's when the entire fraud was revealed,'' said Quebec provincial police Sgt. Joyce Kemp.

Police say the money was being forwarded by an accountant working for the zoo, to a company run by Lezoka that organized biblical conferences and other religious events.

The company, Actions Bethel du Canada Inc., is considered a legal entity distinct from the church. It is described by police as "a religious company with charitable objectives.''

Investigators allege that the accountant would sign off on the transfers, but each one required a second signature from one of three people in the zoo's administration.

"The people that were authorized to do so claimed that they never authorized the transfers so, in consequence, the signatures appear to have been forged,'' Kemp said.

Surete du Quebec only started their investigation in 2009.

"It's a complex case,'' Kemp said. "There's a lot of papers to verify and 37 fund transactions altogether that were made.''

The Congolese-born Lezoka heads Bethel Christian Community, an evangelical church with a small following in Montreal's north end. He has preached for at least 20 years.

The reverend was particularly active soliciting funds after the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

He is already being sued by about two dozen of his parishioners in a $1.5 million fraud case separate from Thursday's criminal case. They accuse him of pocketing money destined for church activities.

The zoo is also attempting to sue Lezoka to recoup money. Parc Safari is a popular outdoor drive-through zoo in Hemmingford, Que., near the U.S. border.

As for the criminal case, the three accused are due in court at the end of April in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu.