Priest Admits Stealing $430K From Parish Accounts
Posted on Tuesday, 20 of October , 2009 at 5:55 pm
WHITE PLAINS—A White Plains pastor has pleaded guilty to stealing over $430,000 from various parish accounts.
Patrick Dunne, 64, of 920 Mamaroneck Ave., the parish priest for Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church in White Plains, pleaded guilty Tuesday to second degree grand larceny, a felony.
Prosecutors say Dunne stole the money over a six year period from Jan. 1, 2002 to Dec. 30, 2007. Dunne had been the parish priest since 1991.
He had entered a not guilty plea when arraigned in June but changed his plea as his trial was about to begin. He will be sentenced to a prison term of 5 to 15 years on Jan. 12.
Dunne allegedly diverted monies that were donated by parishioners for several collection campaigns including the church building fund, a collection for Hurricane Katrina victims, and the weekly offertory received by the church for general church operations.
He used the stolen money for his personal expenses and recreation without the permission or authority to do so, according to prosecutors.
During the six year period, the priest allegedly wrote and endorsed checks to himself and to “cash”, failed to provide an accurate accounting to church officials and deliberately concealed the books and records relating to the parish development account. 10-20-09
STOP! READ! Avoid A Forbidden Notice. First time visitors are welcome at no charge. Thereafter, readers who wish to read additional articles or plan on returning at a later time will need to be an advertiser or have a paid subscription to the NCG Daily Digest in order to gain access. This policy will be strictly enforced and access will be denied to those who abuse it. To sign up, see the subscription ad and PayPal button to the right of this page or at www.northcountrygazette.org If you have questions, contact us at news@northcountrygazette.org
Special subscription rate through Nov. 11, 2009. See http://www.northcountrygazette.org/2009/10/11/changes_coming/
Category: Courts, Crime, Religion
- Add this post to
- Del.icio.us -
- Meneame -
- Digg
COPYRIGHT 2009 - NORTH COUNTRY GAZETTE All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of the publisher.
