(JNS) The Jewish community in Jerusalem’s French Hill neighborhood was rocked by scandal after it was revealed that a prominent local haredi family were actually Christian missionaries.

According to news site B’chadrei Charedim, the family used forged documents to immigrate to the country as Jews. Their first home in Israel was in Jerusalem’s Nachlaot neighborhood, but after their true identities were revealed there, they decamped to French Hill in the northern part of the capital.

After moving to French Hill, the family integrated into community life. The father identified himself as a kohen and a sofer, producing tefillin and mezuzah scrolls, and even conducted marriage ceremonies. The family’s children were enrolled in local schools. The mother died recently after a long illness, and the community collected charity for the mourning family, embracing them as immigrants in Israel without any extended family.

But then members of the community discovered that the family were not haredi Jews—or Jews at all—but Christian missionaries. At first, the discovery was kept secret so that the family could not move away before steps were taken to revoke their citizenship, according to the report.

However, the father began to cover his tracks and his daughters did not arrive at school. He also reportedly began to take down his original Facebook profile, which had reportedly been labeled “A Jew in every sense.”