UNITED STATES
Crux
By Associated Press
May 1, 2016
ALBERT LEA, Minn. — A bookkeeper has pleaded not guilty to charges that she stole nearly $200,000 from a Catholic church and school in Albert Lea, marking the latest incident suggesting to some observers a problem with lax financial controls in American Catholicism.
Thirty-seven-year-old Ryan Mae McFarland of Austin entered her plea Thursday in Freeborn County District Court.
McFarland is charged with nine felony counts of theft by swindle. She was in charge of payroll and church contributions. A criminal complaint says McFarland transferred funds from St. Theodore Catholic Church and its school to her personal accounts
The Albert Lea Tribune reports the alleged theft reportedly took place from August 2013 through Feb. 5, 2014.
Judge Steven Schwab ordered McFarland to have no contact with church personnel or staff and to stay away from the church. McFarland is due back in court on Aug. 4 for a settlement conference.
The latest charge of shoddy financial controls comes against the backdrop of a 2006 study by Villanova University, which found that 85 percent of dioceses in the United States had experienced some form of embezzlement within the previous five years, mostly at the parish level. …
A retired U.S. Postal Service inspector and lifelong Catholic named Michael W. Ryan has examined money management in the Church in the United States. His estimate is that Catholic parishes in the the country may lose as much as $90 million annually due to inadequate controls over the collection plate.
Other experts find that estimate difficult to support with hard data, but most observers agree that money management remains a challenge for the Church, especially at the parish level where most funds are collected and disbursed.
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