NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

By Mark Mueller | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on October 09, 2015

The Archdiocese of Newark knew three years ago that one of its priests was “milking” an elderly parishioner for tens of thousands of dollars and did not take action, allowing him to collect even more money from others for his personal use, a whistleblower clergyman contends.

The Rev. Alex Orozco, 37, allegedly accepted more than $250,000 in cash and goods from parishioners of St. Rose of Lima Church in Short Hills between the fall of 2012 and October 2014, when he transferred to a new post in Bergen County.

That largesse — including checks made out to cash, credit card payments, car purchases and at least $25,000 for a vacation home Orozco acknowledges he never bought — is the subject of an investigation by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, NJ Advance Media…