Friday, February 11, 2005

East St. Louis Bookkeeper Repays Stolen Church Funds

A bookkeeper who stole $144,000 from St. Patrick Church in East St. Louis has paid back all but about $25,000 and is paying the balance in monthly installments, Monsignor James Margason said Wednesday.

Margason is vicar general for the Belleville Catholic Diocese and also is serving as its administrator until a replacement is named for Bishop Wilton D. Gregory...

The bookkeeper admitted taking the money over a period of years, Margason said, apparently because of a gambling addiction.

He confirmed the woman also had been fired about 15 years earlier for taking between $2,000 and $2,500 from the Sister Thea Bowman School in East St. Louis.
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Meanwhile, the diocese is still looking into the handling of an $85,000 charity fund controlled by the parish priest at St. Patrick, the Rev. Clyde Grogan. Authorities say there is no evidence of theft or embezzlement, but receipts are on file for only about $10,000.
Source.

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