Heather Darrey got caught very quickly because she was galactically stupid. The sheer size of the sums embezzled in less than six months made her detection almost inevitable.
The successful fraudsters can get away with subtle skimming theft almost indefinitely. Back in 1998-2000, my parish in Michigan had a typical weekly collection of ar…
Heather Darrey got caught very quickly because she was galactically stupid. The sheer size of the sums embezzled in less than six months made her detection almost inevitable.
The successful fraudsters can get away with subtle skimming theft almost indefinitely. Back in 1998-2000, my parish in Michigan had a typical weekly collection of around 16,000 dollars. From a British parish perspective, this was riches beyond the dreams of avarice, but it was not unusual in the USA.
Who could tell if the true collection was really 17,000 or 18,000 bucks? All the bills and salaries were paid, the diocese got their slice, the parish buildings were in good repair. In fact we steadily accumulated a surplus to pay for big one off costs like a new roof or a car park extension. The parish priest seemed to have a lifestyle in accordance with his income, so I guess that nothing nefarious was going on.
Fr Walter Benz in Pennsylvania escaped earthly justice after embezzling 1.3 million between 1972 and 1998. That was real money back then.
Much more recently, Fr Jon Wehle in Lansing, Michigan got perhaps 5 million out of his parish over 19 years to build an eight bedroom mansion.
Michael Ryan described the abysmal state of Church financial security back in 2005. He includes Fr Benz among the many depressing examples. How much has improved since then? Ryan correctly points out that embezzled funds can pay for mistresses, boy friends, etc.
Heather Darrey got caught very quickly because she was galactically stupid. The sheer size of the sums embezzled in less than six months made her detection almost inevitable.
The successful fraudsters can get away with subtle skimming theft almost indefinitely. Back in 1998-2000, my parish in Michigan had a typical weekly collection of around 16,000 dollars. From a British parish perspective, this was riches beyond the dreams of avarice, but it was not unusual in the USA.
Who could tell if the true collection was really 17,000 or 18,000 bucks? All the bills and salaries were paid, the diocese got their slice, the parish buildings were in good repair. In fact we steadily accumulated a surplus to pay for big one off costs like a new roof or a car park extension. The parish priest seemed to have a lifestyle in accordance with his income, so I guess that nothing nefarious was going on.
Fr Walter Benz in Pennsylvania escaped earthly justice after embezzling 1.3 million between 1972 and 1998. That was real money back then.
Much more recently, Fr Jon Wehle in Lansing, Michigan got perhaps 5 million out of his parish over 19 years to build an eight bedroom mansion.
https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/03/14/okemos-priest-mansion-embezzlement/32948537/
Michael Ryan described the abysmal state of Church financial security back in 2005. He includes Fr Benz among the many depressing examples. How much has improved since then? Ryan correctly points out that embezzled funds can pay for mistresses, boy friends, etc.
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2005_01_06/2005_06_17_Ryan_TheSecond.htm