PENNSYLVANIA
York Dispatch
Pennsylvania State Police have arrested a priest who lives in New Freedom on embezzlement charges from Adams County, Adams County District Attorney Shawn Wagner has announced.
The Rev. Caesar Belchez, 52, of 315 N. Constitution Ave., is charged with embezzling a total of $384,750.76 from St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Bonneauville between 2006 and 2011, according to Wagner.
Belchez could not be reached for comment.
Wagner said Belchez has been charged with theft by unlawful taking or disposition, theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received and access device fraud, which are all third-degree felonies.
Belchez is accused of embezzling $311,983.95 in money and using – without authorization – $72,766.81 from the parish’s credit cards, which the parish used for the purchase of goods and services, according Wagner.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.