Bookkeeper at Archdiocese arrested for $1M embezzlement

[Keith_W_OR_USA]

nytimes.com/2012/01/31/nyregion/new-york-archdiocese-bookkeeper-charged-with-stealing-1-million.html

The Manhattan district attorney’s office on Monday arrested a Bronx woman who is accused of stealing more than $1 million from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York when she worked in the archdiocese’s finance office, law enforcement officials and church leaders said.

 

[meltzerboy]

nytimes.com/2012/01/31/nyregion/new-york-archdiocese-bookkeeper-charged-with-stealing-1-million.html

The Manhattan district attorney’s office on Monday arrested a Bronx woman who is accused of stealing more than $1 million from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York when she worked in the archdiocese’s finance office, law enforcement officials and church leaders said.

I just heard this sad and incredible story on the local news. The woman also has a previous record of theft on two separate occasions. Isn’t there a vetting process in the Archdiocese?

 

[JackVk]

Awful…but this is why there is a Church. If there were no sinners, then Jesus would not have established a Church.

 

[He_Man]

Why on earth she hired with a record like that anyway?

 

[Filii_Dei]

I just heard this sad and incredible story on the local news. The woman also has a previous record of theft on two separate occasions. Isn’t there a vetting process in the Archdiocese?

Why on earth she hired with a record like that anyway?

I refer to this: catholicnewsagency.com/news/employee-steals-1-million-from-archdiocese-of-new-york

Collins’ past convictions went unnoticed because she was hired before the archdiocese began regular criminal background checks on all its employees, Zwilling told the New York Times. The archdiocese now conducts these background checks.

It was an unfortunate incident of a person who slipped through the net and abused the charity and trust of Catholics.

I pray that this incident does not harden the hearts of the good people of the Archdiocese of New York, and that they may continue their work with vigilant love.

 

[LisaA]

Amazing…I’m on my parish’s counting team and we have very strict procedures for the volunteers but it’s probably easier for someone on the inside to circumvent any controls. I’m surprised that the Archdiocese wasn’t audited although that is no assurance that fraud will be detected.

I work in a large hospital and one employee was able to embezzle thousands by setting up an account in the hospital’s name where he was the check signer. He was able to adjust patient accounts so when a payment came in, he diverted some of them to his account and then made an adjustment to the patient’s ledger. He was able to get away with it for years. Ditto with a very well respected Domestic Violence Shelter. The long time bookkeeper wrote thousands in checks to herself or using a fake name. It too was audited but the fraud was missed year after year.

Sometimes in the effort to keep down administrative costs, churches and charities skimp on procedures and segregation of duties of employees. Can really cost a lot in more ways than one.

Lisa

 

[Lovemyfaith]

philly.com/philly/news/20120129_Worker_accused_of_stealing__1_million_from_archdiocese_over_six_years.html

Philadelphia had a similar problem. The really odd thing about Philadelphia is, the woman mentioned in the article was arrested last July. The Philadelphia Inquirer, the main newspaper, ran a huge headline story this past weekend. I don’t know if the story was reported back when it happened, or if this story was just trotted out to get more ill-will against the church in light of the recent mandate by HHS.

I am certainly not sympathizing with an embezzler at all, just the timing of the story.