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	Auditors Document Moynihan Stole $529k from Parish By Patricia McCormack Greenwich Citizen March 14, 2008 http://www.greenwichcitizen.com/localnews/ci_8574022 A web of deceit self-woven over years by the Rev. Michael Moynihan, ex-pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Church on North Street, was broken last Friday when auditing reports showed that the priest cannot account for $529,000 in disbursements. The reports included one from the Parish Audit Committee. That dovetailed with and was reinforced by conclusions in a review by two public accounting firms put on the Moynihan case: ". . .we can only conclude that Father Moynihan has engaged in a pattern of self-dealing, deceit, and submitting falsified and misleading documents to the substantial detriment of our Parish," it was stated in the Parish Audit Committee report. The second report, from two external public accounting firms hired by the Diocese of Bridgeport, also tore the wraps off Moynihan's modus operandi. "The reports have been provided to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, as was requested when the FBI alerted the Diocese in July 2006 to the off-the-books accounts maintained by Father Moynihan, " a summary of the reports on the Bridgeport Diocese Web site declared. The U.S. Attorney reports to the Attorney General of the United States on its investigations of criminal matters. A summary of the scathing reports and a letter from Bishop William Lori were sent last Friday to parishioners and parents of students attending the high-tuition Greenwich Catholic School. Until he was removed by the Bishop, Moynihan also was president of Greenwich Catholic School. Bishop Lori made the following major points in his letter to "dear parishioners and school parents": 1. This past year has been very difficult for you and me. We were all deeply saddened and disappointed by events which led to the resignation of Father Moynihan in January 2007 and a recent news story which brought to the fore serious questions of personal propriety. 2. During this past year, every effort was made to enable Father Moynihan to keep his promise to justify numerous undocumented expenditures. Sadly, as the report from the Parish Audit Committee indicates, these efforts were met with repeated denials, resistance and obfuscation. 3. Unfortunately significant funds were grossly mishandled and misused. The same pattern of behavior surfaced when Father Moynihan was confronted with what appeared to be an improper personal relationship: his steadfast denial of any impropriety coupled with his failure to keep his promise to me to terminate any association with the individual. 4. This dual breach of trust has given scandal: it has caused division in the parish and community, threatening the faith of believers, and impeded the mission of the Church. We stand in need of healing. 5. I have removed Father Moynihan's authority to function publicly as a priest I expect him to honor his promise of restitution to the parish. 6. Regarding Father Moynihan's future, as previously indicated, copies of the reports from the accounting firms are being turned over to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Government officials will determine what action, if any, is warranted in response to his actions. 7. In the meantime, please pray for Father Moynihan and his spiritual well-being. I know that feelings are strong. Whatever our feelings, let us seek reconciliation as the Lord taught us." Second Case of Theft by Pastors The Moynihan affair delivered a second body blow to the Bridgeport Diocese over the theft of parish funds by pastors. The Rev. Michael Jude Fay, pastor of St. John Parish in Darien, recently was sentenced to prison for stealing from the parish. Similarly to what has been disclosed about Moynihan, Fay also was living an amorous life with another man. However, Moynihan's private affair did not figure in the Parish Audit Committee's report on his undocumented disbursements. In its report, the Parish Audit Committee declared: "The fact that Father Moynihan has been leasing an apartment (at $4,000 a month rent) in Manhattan for many years was not taken into consideration in performing the financial review or investigations as Father did not disclose, nor were the Parish Audit Committee or Diocese otherwise aware, of its existence." It was disclosed in a recent news story that his roommate is the former director of the St. Michael Parish Children's Choir. The man is a musician of high professional repute currently engaged in a Broadway musical production. After reviewing its findings and those from external auditing firms hired by the Diocese, the Parish Audit Committee was unanimous in concluding that Moynihan had: * Made numerous misrepresentations during this process, including repeatedly denying the existence of the off-the-books accounts when asked by Diocesan officials and representatives of the financial review firms. * Engaged in inappropriate self-dealing with parish funds, including making large payments (often in round, thousand-dollar amounts) to his personal credit cards and payments to himself and to cash. * Submitted falsified and misleading documents in an effort to support his justification of expenditures, which severely hindered the progress and completion of the investigation. These documents included one bearing the purported signature of a former judge who denies that the signature on the document was his or that he had seen the document. * Grossly mishandled parish funds donated by parishioners. * Failed to share the results of the Diocese's February 2004 Financial and Operational Review of the parish with the former Parish Finance Council, or to implement the financial recommendations as he promised to do following the 2004 review. Related Findings Revealed Moynihan also claimed he had not disclosed the existence of the Greenwich Bank & Trust Co. off-the-books account to prevent the Diocese from using such funds to settle sexual abuse claims against diocesan priests. Diocesan officials counter that claim by reporting that the multi-million dollar global settlements for abuse took place in January 2001 and October 2003 - well before Father Moynihan opened the Greenwich Bank & Trust account in 2005. In addition, the diocese, as is well-known by clergy and publicized, used funds from insurance and sale of diocesan real estate to settle with victims of sexual molestation by priests. Greenwich land records indicate, in fact, that diocesan residential land -- 25 acres - at a market rate of $8 million on the St. Agnes parish campus was sold to Stanwich School when the diocese was selling land to help with the sexual molestation settlements. Payments of approximately $284,000 were made directly to Moynihan's personal credit cards -- approximately $153,000 from the Greenwich Bank & Trust account and $131,000 from the Bank of America - the two off-the-books accounts. Reports from the external auditing firms said: "Over $400,000 from the two off-the-books accounts went to Father Moynihan's personal credit cards or to benefit of himself, to cash and to organizations, individuals and vendors for which no corroborating documentation has been provided. "In various submissions during the audits, Father Moynihan provided multiple explanations for these excess payments. Most of these explanations were generic in nature and lacked corroborating documentation. "While Father Moynihan provided some documentation to demonstrate that certain parties received funds, no corroborating documentation was provided to support his claim that these amounts had been paid from his personal funds. "The reports show that his personal bank activity does not support his claims that he made any of the approximately $93,000 in payments from his personal funds. "Father Moynihan claimed that one source of his personal funds was gifts from a trust fund for an elderly sick aunt and uncle (recently deceased) for which he served as trustee. "To corroborate Moynihan's claim regarding gifts from the trust, family members associated with the trust challenged Moynihan's administration of the trust fund. They challenged his propriety in using $58,000 in trust funds to purchase a powerboat and other payments from the trust solely for Moynihan's benefit. "Furthermore, Moynihan has refused to provide beneficiaries of the trust with an accounting of trust assets."
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