By Declan Varley
Kilkenny Advertiser [Ireland]
March 14, 2007
http://www.kilkennyadvertiser.ie/index.php?aid=4931
A Kilkenny priest who is facing massive fraud charges in the US told investigators that anything he took, he had coming to him, it emerged this week as prosecution documents were released in Florida.
Rev John Skehan who was born in Johnstown and who still has close family there is facing the charges along with another priest, Rev Francis Guinan.
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| Rev John Skehan |
Skehan, 79, and Guinan, 64, were arrested last autumn on charges of grand theft over $100,000, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Both Irish-born priests have pleaded not guilty and are free on bail.
The documents also reveal that Skehan gave his opinion that he had never been properly paid by the diocese, that he was running a big business and getting nothing for it.
It also emerged that Skehan had a bedroom closet that was padlocked with documents allegedly dealing with past paedophiles within the church, according to the records.
"It was maybe some blackmail and stuff so he didn't want anybody ever to be able to get into there," one church employee said, according to the documents released last Thursday.
When the criminal investigation got under way, Skehan told the employee to give his apartment keys to a relative to "offload some documents from his home," the employee said.
It also emerged that Rev Guinan was outraged at the prospect of two parish audits by the Diocese of Palm Beach — one at St Patrick in Palm Beach Gardens, the other at St Vincent Ferrer in Delray Beach.
He professed disbelief to his bishop that his integrity would be questioned. He wrote to his bishop that priests pledge to live, if not a life of poverty, one of modesty rewarded by serving the faithful.
But diocese policy calls for a parish audit whenever there is a change in pastors, and Guinan had just left St Patricks after 16 years to take over St Vincent from his close friend, the Rev. Skehan, who was retiring after 40 years. Diocese auditors were eager to open the books.
Guinan called on Bishop Gerald Barbarito, new to his post, to abolish the diocese's audit policy.
"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 Barbarito in October 2003. "The money spent on an audit is a waste and should be spent more wisely."
He 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," Guinan wrote. "May I be so crude as to ask you to call off the dogs.'"
But Barbarito was not persuaded, and an independent audit of St Vincent eventually uncovered an alleged $8.6 million theft going back decades.
Guinan's letter to the bishop was among hundreds of documents released Thursday by Palm Beach County prosecutors, offering more details into the secret lives of the two priests who are accused of spending lavishly on themselves and their girlfriends.
Skehan, 79, and Guinan, 64, were arrested last fall on charges of grand theft over $100,000, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Both Irish-born priests have pleaded not guilty and are free on bail.
When he was arrested after returning from Ireland, Skehan admitted to investigators he established "slush" funds, bank accounts that were kept off St. Vincent's books. One of the slush funds was dubbed "Holy Name."
The cash was skimmed weekly from the collection plates at St. Vincent, money that bookkeepers helped Skehan and Guinan hide, according to the court records. Those bookkeepers were given immunity for their co-operation. When it became clear auditors were going to pore through the books, financial documents were shredded.
"Skehan told investigators that he felt that anything that he took ... he had coming to him, as the diocese was cheap and never paid for his education," a Delray Beach police detective wrote in one report released Thursday. "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."
The elderly priest told investigators that it was a "mountain of money" he had misappropriated, but he said he didn't recall where all the money went.
He expressed surprise the figure was so high. He said he had no regrets about giving unauthorised payments and bonuses to church employees.
He also told investigators he stashed some of the cash in bank accounts in Ireland under a different name, but he would tell them no more about that, according to records.
Guinan jetted off to Las Vegas and the Bahamas with a woman witnesses told investigators was his girlfriend. Skehan bought himself a $300,000 gold coin collection. Both men collected real estate and upscale homes.
They created a complex maze for accountants to sort out, including multiple bank and stock investment accounts that were kept secret from the diocese.
A spokeswoman for the Diocese of Palm Beach said she would not comment on the documents because the criminal case is pending.
A bookkeeper interviewed by investigators portrayed an atmosphere of paranoia that she saw as normal in the St. Vincent offices. Money was hidden in ceiling tiles. Employees searched the room of a priest who they thought the diocese had planted as a spy. Books were falsified to cover up the missing money.
There was a limo trip to Joe's Stone Crab restaurant on Miami Beach with Guinan and Skehan and their close church employees and their spouses. They continued the outing at another bar.
Skehan had a bedroom closet that was padlocked with documents allegedly dealing with past paedophiles within the church, according to the records. It was "maybe some blackmail and stuff so he didn't want anybody ever to be able to get into there," one church employee said. When the criminal investigation got under way, Skehan told the employee to give his apartment keys to a relative to "offload some documents from his home," the employee said.
At St. Vincent, one of Palm Beach County's largest and oldest parishes, Skehan was well liked and even revered by parishioners. Guinan didn't enjoy the same reputation.
"He was never there," one church employee told investigators. "He didn't really care about St. Vincent's. He was gone most of the time."
The two priests are expected to face trial in the autumn and an exact date for this will be set in the next five weeks.
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