DETROIT – A Detroit-area Catholic priest and his parish administrator have been arraigned on charges of fraud and conspiracy in a scheme to steal nearly $700,000 from their church.
The Rev. Edward Belczak and Janice Verschuren were freed on $10,000 bonds Monday at Detroit’s U.S. District Court. A magistrate entered not-guilty pleas for them.
Authorities say they conspired over an eight-year period at St. Thomas More parish in Troy, where cash turned up missing from special collections.
An indictment says the 69-year-old priest helped himself to $110,000 to help pay for a Florida condominium that was sold to him by Verschuren and her former husband.
Defense attorney Jerome Sabbota tells The Detroit News that proving a case against Belczak “won’t be an easy task.” Verschuren’s attorney Patricia Maceroni says her client “will be fully exonerated.”