Go here to read the story. The striking thing is how simple it was for this employee of the parish to steal a huge amount of money:
According to court documents, Darrey repeatedly took signed checks made out to various parish vendors, destroyed them, and wrote new checks in the same amounts to herself and her creditors. She would then input the original information into parish accounting software, making it appear that she had mailed the original bank checks to the parish vendors.
It took several months for the fraudulent activity to be detected, in part because of the construction of a new youth center at the parish, which saw large amounts of cash flow through parish operating accounts.
Imagine all the funds stolen undetected by marginally cleverer thieves, particularly at the Vatican.
Sounds like she got into a Pickle Court minus the Ball. 🫣
As far as the Vatican goes…
…Money handlers within the church have had from the very beginning an example of Rope & Tree accounting. Unfortunately many forget that traitor and end up imitating him.
The sin that can’t be forgiven is the doubting of God’s Mercy and forgiveness.
I hope the Pickleball Queen doen’t make that mistake.
Money Quote: ““And I hope none of those concert tickets were spent on the St. Louis Jesuits,” he added.”
This used to be startlingly easy to do (and may still be in some cases) and the repercussions rarely satisfy justice. I think that it is partially based upon an environment of trust, a focus based upon eternity and ecclesial structures that make the pastor the only real decision maker. In one case in our diocese, a lay bookkeeper stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from a parish with a large budget. This story happened to coincide with my service on our parish finance committee. I was shocked to find out that, at least in our diocese at that time, that the only time that an audit was done was when there was a change in pastors. Obviously, that happens only every 10-20 years. Not true anymore thankfully. I think that the audits are annual now. The bookkeeper was a long time employee, so she was trusted and gave few clues that she was embezzling. The pastor was a kind man but not a let’s do it by the numbers” kind of guy. It was only caught when he retired. She was charged criminally. I don’t think that she ever served any time. She agreed to repay the sums stolen but let’s face it, she’ll never have enough money to pay it back. We should forgive, so the parish “forgave her” and agreed to a slap on the wrist probably due in part that they didn’t want it in the news impairing their ability to encourage the flock to donate.
The other issue is that all of the committees and councils are created to “advise” the pastor and have no real power. When I was on our parish finance committee I recall one instance when our pastor wanted to purchase some property. Many of us thought it inadvisable and said so and the response was “I’m the pastor” and he bought it. I resigned from the parish shortly afterward and the priest has since left the priesthood. I also heard of at least one priest who embezzled from the funds he was entrusted to manage on behalf of an aging priest. It was only discovered after the priest died and the heirs found out. I think he is in jail.
Bottom line: Those in the Church’s mission are sinners like the rest of us. #trustbutverify
It might be easier here in Florida, where bad priests go to retire, than in some other places … I was just happy to see this Tampa embezzlement sum exceed that of our hometown Paroisse de l’Aisance … We don’t need the press.
Florida woman facing trial for $700k parish theft
To commit such crimes requires minimal skill; to get away with them requires a Roman collar.
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Hmm not sure what button I hit on the tablet.