Priest convicted on fraud charges

It never seems to amaze me, who gets caught committing fraud. Here is a story that confirms that fact. A former priest has been convicted of stealing a lot of money from his flock and the Church.

A former priest pleaded guilty to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from his church by setting up secret bank accounts to pay for a life of luxury, including traveling around the world and buying a condominium.

The Rev. Michael Jude Fay, who resigned last year as pastor of St. John Roman Catholic Church, pleaded guilty Wednesday to interstate transportation of money obtained by fraud. He faces up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and must pay restitution.

Prosecutors said Fay took between $1 million and $2.5 million over seven years, but the priest has disputed that. He admitted taking between $400,000 and $1 million.

Of course, using religion as a guise to cover wrongdoing is nothing new. Last I heard, the Church is still settling a lot of litigation for sexual predators posing as men of God.

AP story by John Christoffersen, here.

Here is a previous post, I did in the same vein:

Fraudsters Use Religion to Cover their Misdeeds