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	Kilkenny Priest Tells Police of Slush Funds and Rare Coin Collection Kilkenny People [Ireland] March 14, 2007 http://www.kilkennypeople.ie/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=2594&ArticleID=2118950 The Johnstown native charged with embezzling millions of dollars from a Florida church, put money into Irish bank accounts and property and invested in a racehorse company called Shag. Fr John Skehan admitted to Florida police that he took money from St Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in Delray Beach, Florida, according to files released last week by US police. Fr Skehan and Fr Francis Guinan are accused of misappropriating $8.6 million of church money. They were arrested last autumn and have been released on bail. Fr Skehan was pastor at St Vincent's from 1963 to 2003. He was succeeded by Fr Guinan, who was pastor until 2005. Both are charged with stealing more than $100,000, a crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Both priests have pleaded not guilty. Hundreds of documents released by police last week offer insight into the two priests' secret lives. The files include statements from church employees, police reports and accounting statements. In a police interview, Fr Skehan "began by telling investigators that he had no problem with admitting the fact that he had done wrong in misappropriating offertory money from St Vincent Ferrer Church," according to a police file. "Skehan told investigators that he ... took what he had coming to him, as the diocese was cheap and never paid for his education." He admitted that during his tenure as pastor no cash from the offertory collections was ever deposited into the legitimate operating accounts; but he said the money he misappropriated was for other people in a lot of cases. The priest told police that he regularly kept $1,000 to $3,000 from the church collections for his own use. He estimated that he had $5,000 in cash stored in a safe in his home, and said he was saving money for a trip around the world. Fr Skehan told police that he owned property in Ireland in somebody else's name, a property in Liscannor near the Cliffs of Moher, and others in Florida. He told investigators that he had bank accounts in Ireland in somebody else's name but refused to identify the accounts, claiming that was "his money". The 79-year-old priest said he planned to leave money to the parish in his will, and that he had left $4 million in a school endowment fund. He later admitted to having a hidden second endowment fund valued at $2.7 million but said he had planned to hand that over to the parish when he retired. Police then reminded him that he retired three years earlier. No regrets "Skehan advised that he never realized the amount of money that he had misappropriated," one police file stated. "He said that he had no regrets about the money that went to staff or needy people. Skehan gave his opinion that he had never been properly paid by the diocese; he was running a big business and getting nothing for it. "Skehan stated that he was proud of the fact that there had never been a parish left in better financial shape. Skehan again admitted that he had spent misappropriated money on credit cards and coins, and he would be happy to pay that back. Skehan told investigators that he absolutely knew what he had done was not right." Police interviews with former church staff members detailed how two separate accounts books were kept to hide the amount of money collected from the diocese. The former employees were granted immunity in exchange for their co-operation. The employees said cash received in the church collections was deposited into slush accounts which were not reported to the diocese. One employee said she worked for Fr Skehan from 1992, when she was 15, until 2005. She "recalled that if any (bank) tellers questioned all the cash money going into the hidden accounts, she would tell Skehan and he would change banks to avoid suspicion," a police file stated. She became responsible for depositing the money into the bank in 2005, and became suspicious that the offertory amounts counted did not match the amounts deposited. She then began recording the differing amounts in her diary, she told police. After Easter of that year she reported her findings to a Fr Timothy Sockol, she said. "He documented her report and said he would take care of it," according to the police file. Blackmail The former employee also told police that "Fr Skehan had a padlocked closet in his apartment. Skehan had told (her) that the closet contained past paedophile and blackmail information". She said she was in Fr Skehan's house when the safe was open and he showed her expensive coins and cash; and that on one day he bought approximately $275,000 worth of coins from a dealer in Texas. She also told police that she and her mother received greeting cards from Fr Skehan containing $1,500 each while the criminal investigation was being carried out. The church's former bookkeeper, who was employed there for 14 years, was also interviewed by police. She admitted keeping deposit slips for money going into the church's bank account when it was actually going into the slush funds. "She would pay his (Fr Skehan's) car payment, personal phone bill, American Express, and other credit cards he might have. She further indicated that if there were checks (cheques] in the offertory, like if someone, for example, would leave a $10,000 check, those checks typically went into other bank accounts and not the regular operating accounts," according to a police file. "She further indicated that all the accounts she knew of, she did not believe she was committing a crime because most of the accounts had either the name of the church or church-related title on the bank accounts." 'It happens all over' The former bookkeeper was asked whether her colleagues mentioned such practices at the bookkeeping conferences they attended. "She indicated that it happens all over, however she indicated that it was an opinion. She further indicated that most bookkeepers were terrified of termination of employment and that the secondary funds within the church are not discussed," a police file stated. "A friend of hers was bookkeeper at Mary Immaculate (Church) and the bookkeeper went to the Diocese to complain about a priest taking money out of the collection. She was immediately terminated and so was her husband who also worked at the church. As a result, it is never discussed amongst themselves." The bookkeeper resigned from St Vincent's Church in November 2005 after becoming suspicious that Fr Guinan was stealing money from the church and spending it on gambling, she told police. She relayed her suspicions to a nun called Sr Mary Clare. "In October she also talked to Fr Skehan about it when he returned from Ireland. Fr Skehan indicated to her that the church had plenty of money and not to worry about it," a police file stated. She told police she knew that slush funds were wrong, but she thought the money was going back to the church. Shag Incorporated A former bookkeeper at Fr Guinan's previous church, St Patrick's Church in North Palm Beach, Florida, told police that Fr Skehan, Fr Guinan and a Fr Hickey were part of an investment corporation called Shag Incorporated. The name came from the initials of their names. The three priests, along with Fr Guinan's brother Sean, had invested in two race horses in Ireland in the early 1990s, she told police. Plea It was diocese policy to audit a parish every time a pastor retired, but Fr Guinan asked the new Bishop Gerald Barbarito to end that policy in the autumn of 2003. "My reasons for this request are as follows: It is demeaning, embarrassing and humiliating. It accomplishes nothing that could not be accomplished in a more dignified fashion," Guinan wrote to Bishop Barbarito, in a letter which has been obtained by the police department. "The money spent on audit is a waste and should be spent more wisely." Bishop Barbarito continued to push for the audit, and when irregularities were found, Fr Guinan was removed from his post and the bank accounts identified by the accountants were frozen. A parishioner who was concerned about financial irregularities later sent an anonymous letter to Palm Beach County prosecutors. That resulted in an investigation by Delray Beach police and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which led to the criminal charges. Fr Guinan wrote that the sacrifices and commitment of priests are "without parallel". "They devote their lives to the church with little thought for personal gain. They are generous, charitable and compassionate. They have earned and deserve trust, at least until proven otherwise," the priest wrote. "May I be so crude as to ask you to 'call off the dogs'."
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