Hierarchy in Denial

Church Embezzlement Case Histories

Thefollowing abbreviated newspaper summaries graphically illustrate whatcan and does happen in more Christian churches than anyone knows orwould care to acknowledge.  If you would like to download this compendium so as to be able to read it at your leisure, CLICK HERE.  The compendium file, named thefts.rtf, is in Rich Text Format and should open through any word processing program.

THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE  -  June 17, 2000

SANFRANCISCO, CA ' The 9 men who have accused defrocked priest, [namewithheld] of molesting them when they were boys told a grand jury that[name withheld] would ply them with alcohol, let them drive his sportscars and used other enticements to keep them under his control foryears. …………

Thesexual abuse case is not the only legal problem for [name withheld].Last fall, the San Francisco archdiocese filed a lawsuit accusing himof embezzling more than $250,000 donated by nuns and parishionersduring his 16-year tenure at the two churches.  Prosecutors had alreadyfiled grand theft charges related to the lost funds, accusing him ofembezzling church funds to finance a vacation home in Southern Calif.That case is still pending.

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT  -  January 27, 1999

SANTAROSA, CA – Even as he was publicly assuring his flock he would dealopenly with priestly misconduct, Bishop [name withheld] hushed up thecase of a priest who had admitted stealing money from a church and hadbeen accused by 4 men of sexually accosting them. …………..

Someof those involved – a nun, Latino community leaders and Ukiah's formerpolice chief – all raised questions about the bishop's refusal toopenly discuss [the priest]. The collection plate theft and allegationsof sexual impropriety happened more than 2 years ago but resurfacedrecently after [name withheld] a nun at the parish for 20 years,released a series of letters condemning [the bishop] for transferring[the priest] instead of publicly prosecuting him for theft.

ASSOCIATED PRESS  -  May 12, 1999

PITTSBURGH,PA ' A church secretary won't go to jail for helping a priest steal$25,000 from parish contributions, but she must pay the money back tothe Catholic congregation in suburban Pittsburgh.

[namewithheld] pleaded no contest to one count of criminal conspiracy tocommit theft in a deal that would keep her out of jail but requirerestitution, and ordered to pay $25,000.  Meanwhile, lawyers for thediocese filed motions asking that the court force [name withheld] toreturn property such as jewelry and clothing to the church. [namewithheld] claims the items are her personal property.

Prosecutorssaid [name withheld] helped Fr. Walter Benz embezzle a fraction of the$1.5 million he allegedly stole over 25 years from collection basketsat two parishes in suburban Pittsburgh.  [name withheld] was thesecretary at one of them where Benz was assigned in 1993. They spentthe money on fancy cars, antique handguns and gambling trips toAtlantic City, among other items, prosecutors said.  Benz died at anursing home last year before he could be prosecuted. He was 72.

THE BOSTON GLOBE -  Friday, November 27, 1998

Mercy or revenge in priest's death?

PITTSBURGH -  The Rev. [name withheld] .... pastor at two churches for 26 years.... had just confessed to .... skimming the collection plate of $1.35 million.... And on the day authorities showed up at his sickbed to arraign him,[he] slipped into a coma....  He left behind a confession thatimplicated his female companion.... [the priest] admitted stealingmoney, estimating that he took a thousand dollars a week for 26 yearsat both churches, for a rough total of $1.35 million.

The PROVIDENCE JOURNAL  -  December 15, 1998

PROVIDENCE,RI – A priest pleaded no contest to embezzling approximately $90,000from members of his church over a two-year period starting in 1995.

[thepriest] entered no-contest pleas to 3 counts of embezzlement. Inexchange for his pleas, [the priest] was given a 5-year sentence, with2 years to be served in home confinement and 3 years suspended.  Theamount of restitution will be determined later. [the priest] willremain free on $25,000 personal recognizance bail until he beginsserving his sentence Feb. 15.

Thestate police were notified of the irregularities by the Diocese ofProvidence, which had begun its own inquiry into the matter. Severalquestions remain unanswered, including what he spent the money on andwhere he will stay.  [the priest] had been pastor of the parish for 17years. He resigned in 1997, citing health ailments, among thememphysema.

THE COURIER, Findlay, Ohio  -  May 8, 1996

Woman Sentenced To Two Years In Church Theft Case

OTTAWA(AP)  A former church secretary on Tuesday was sentenced to two yearsin prison for stealing more than $411,000 from a church collectionplate to help finance a lavish lifestyle.  [name withheld] also mustrepay $411,000 to St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church in Kalida. ..…..  [name withheld] was convicted last month of one count ofthird-degree felony theft.  After she was convicted, her husband, [namewithheld], was charged with one count of receiving stolen property, asecond-degree felony…….  [name withheld] was the secretary at St.Michael's for 19 year.   .……  Hoying [the pastor] said the week after[name withheld] resigned, Sunday collections increased about $1,500. The diocese then conducted an audit dating to 1990 and discovered that between $1,200 and $1,500 probably had been stolen each week.

FORT MYERS NEWS PRESS  -  Sunday, January 31, 1993

Man who pocketed $240,000 from church collection plates is jailed

DALLAS -  A man trusted to count daily donations at a Roman Catholic churchwas sentenced to eight years in prison after he admitted pocketing morethan $240,000 from collection plates.  [name withheld], 26, was giventhe job in 1986 by a former pastor at Cathedral Santuario deGuadalupe.  He continued to impress the Rev. Larry Pichard, who made[the employee] the church's evening secretary in 1988.  "Extremelynice.  Polite.  Reserved.  Gentle-hearted," Pichard said.  "I assumedeverything was OK.  I was wrong."

LOS ANGELES TIMES  -  October 23, 1992

Testimony Shows Priest Handled All Donations

Father[name withheld] always insisted on handling the collection money at St.Peter Claver Church in Simi Valley -even at other priests' Massesaccording to testimony that led to his indictment on embezzlementcharges.....  [the priest], 36, who is awaiting a Nov. 2 trial on twocounts of grand theft, is accused of embezzling $60,000 in collectionmoney from St. Peter Claver Church and from his previous parish, SacredHeart Church, in Saticoy .....   An audit by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles showed that donations atboth churches dipped noticeably during [the priest's] tenure, testifiedauditor Sandra Smith .…

NOTE:While the priest was subsequently acquitted at trial, the presidingjudge refused his request for custody of the monies seized inconnection with his arrest; those monies were instead turned over tothe Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL  -  Friday, November 9, 1990

Priest indicted in theft of funds from parish

TheRev. [name withheld], former pastor of St. Anthony's Church in NorthProvidence, was indicted yesterday by a statewide grand jury on chargesof stealing $200,000 in parish funds between 1985 and 1988.  "Theinvestigation shows that [the priest] regularly skimmed money from thecollections and embezzled funds from several parish accounts," [Atty.Gen. James E.] O'Neil said.

Church worker indicted [same case]

Inan unrelated case, the grand jury also indicted [name withheld], 23, ofNorth Providence, an employee of St. Anthony's in 1987-88, on a chargeof embezzling from the parish.  O'Neil said that [the employee] isaccused of embezzling $58,000 in parish funds for himself ... [thepriest] and [the employee] are not charged with working together.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE  -  January 12, 1990

Priest gets 6 months in jail in church embezzlement case

   OSHKOSH, WIS - A 68-year-old Roman Catholic priest has been sentencedto six months in jail and three years of probation on charges heembezzled more than $45,000 from a church where he served as pastor.

WinnebagoCounty Circuit Judge William Carver also ordered [the priest] onWednesday to perform 200 hours of public service and to repay thechurch $46,000.  [the priest], former pastor of St. Margaret MaryCatholic Church in Neenah, pleaded no contest Nov. 9 to one count offelony theft and was convicted.  The criminal complaint contended thepriest stole $45,686 from donations, collection envelopes and feescollected by the church between 1984 and 1988.

BOSTON GLOBE  -  March 25, 1983

ARREST OF LAY LEADER STUNS CATHOLIC PARISH IN CONN.

OAKVILLE,Conn.  -  ……….. St Mary Magdalen Church had been unable to pay itsbills for several years.  But it wasn't until this January that Revs.John Lynch and Ralph Colicchio, alarmed at what they said was adiscrepancy between the size of the parish and the amount of Sundaydonations, asked police to investigate possible skimming from thecollection plates…….. [the priests] were not aware of the extent of theloss until they began to count the collection money themselves.  Whenthey did, the receipts jumped from approximately $4,000 a month, as recorded by [name withheld], to $12,000 a month.  [NOTE: this would be a good point at which to test your math skills]

THE MIAMI HERALD (same case)

CONNECTICUT  -  Woman fails to deny church embezzlement

WATERBURY  A Waterbury woman has pleaded no contest to charges that sheembezzled $60,000 from her church.  Police charged that [namewithheld], 58, had taken the money from St. Mary Magdalen Churchbetween Dec. 1, 1979, and Oct. 1, 1982 while she was countingcollection money.  Waterbury  Superior Court Judge Anthony DeMayoaccepted [name withheld] plea and found her guilty.