BishopAccountability.org
	Crawford County Priest Arrested on Embezzlement Charge Telegraph Herald January 29, 2010 http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=271502 PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, Wis. — A priest at St. Mary Catholic Church in Gays Mills and St. Phillip Catholic Church in Soldiers Grove has been arrested on a charge of embezzling up to $200,000 from those parishes. The Rev. Robert Chukwu is currently in Crawford County Jail on a felony charge of theft in a business setting of over $10,000. According to the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department, Chukwu, who holds dual citizenship in the United States and Nigeria, told an attorney for the Diocese of La Crosse that he used the money from the parishes to invest in Nigeria where he could get a better interest rate than if he sent the money to the diocese. Authorities claim Chukwu sent money to his family in Nigeria and to a nun and a school in Nigeria. They allege he also sent a 40-foot container to Nigeria containing items purchased at local retail stores. Authorities said the money used to purchase the items sent to Nigeria came from insurance money and donations received by the parishes for damages to the church from the 2007 flood. An investigation of parish books found that Chukwu had approximately $105,000 in debit card charges and unauthorized charges totaling $196,000, according to investigators. The case remains under investigation.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.