On September 9, 2010, St. Petersburg Times reported the following story: Pastor Pleads Guilty in Embezzlement Case Gregory S, 38, was an accountant for a staffing company when he was not busy preaching from the pulpit. During his employment with the staffing agency, he was able to write checks totaling $813,142 to his church without […]
News stories about church funds being embezzled by an employee or clergy are common, but embezzlement by someone charged with oversight is rarely reported in the media. A Michigan based news site, www.mlive.com reported the following story on September 16, 2010: Former Birch Run church leader charged with embezzling more than $100k from congregation The […]
“Our bookkeeper has been a member and served our church for many years. We trust him/her completely…” Church’s Secretary accused of embezzling $1.5 million Former pastor guilty of stealing from church Church’s former secretary jailed on fraud charges Priests get jail for stealing from church Church secretary accused of stealing thousands Woman accused of stealing […]
Every week ministries across the country get several hundred thousand requests for assistance. Some are valid, while others are not. Here are some real life examples of benevolence requests that I have encountered recently in my experience with ministries: A church member requests the business office to help with the monthly payments on his vacation home […]
“We require all checks to be signed by two officers of the church”. Dual controls, or separation of the accounting duties, are an important brick in the wall of fraud protection. Requiring dual signatures is often one of the ingredients in providing proper segregation of duties. But, if this practice is not combined with a […]
Churches continue to play a dangerous game. While the number and magnitude of fraud incidents rapidly accelerate, few churches are taking the time or spending the money to develop a wall of fraud protection. Many different reasons are offered in defense of this inactivity. But, this one leads the parade: “It could never happen here.” […]
In recent years there has been an alarming upward spike in the number of church fraud and embezzlement incidents. But surprisingly, given this epidemic, few churches are taking proactive steps to ward off predators. The reasons given are many and varied but most offer no more protection than the Peanuts character Linus’ security blanket. Each […]
This article (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30088148/) reminded me of a fraud prevention principle – Most church embezzlements are probably not committed by crooks. Sinister looking guys usually don’t hang around churches with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths looking for the right opportunity to jump. Instead, I think more financial attacks on churches are committed by people who […]
The severity of a fraud incident is usually measured in one way – How much money was lost? When presenting fraud case studies to church groups I have noticed a common reaction: the larger the dollar loss, the louder the gasps from the audience. While it cannot be denied that in some cases the economic […]
Financial “bad behavior” is becoming rampant in the church. You would have to be living in a cave to not recognize this. There is not a week that goes by without another headline appearing that tells the sad story of a “trusted” church employee “gone bad”. The good part of this, if there is a […]