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	Conspiracy Case of Ex-Diocese Accountant Goes to Jury Associated Press, carried in NewsNet5 September 28, 2007 http://www.newsnet5.com/news/14228372/detail.html CLEVELAND — A former church accountant who paid $784,000 in kickbacks to his former boss at the Cleveland Catholic Diocese should be convicted for defrauding the church and the Internal Revenue Service, the prosecution said in its closing argument Friday. But the defense for Anton Zgoznik, 40, of Kirtland Hills, said he was following orders in paying the money to keep a valued top accountant working for the church. The U.S. District Court jury left the courtroom after 2 1/2 hours of closing arguments to begin deliberating. Zgoznik is charged with conspiracy, money laundering, mail fraud and obstruction of justice. The payments went to Joseph Smith, former chief legal and financial officer for the diocese. He faces trial later on similar charges. "There was no way Bishop (Anthony) Pilla would know, the diocese would know" about the payments, assistant U.S. Attorney John Siegel told the jury, referring to the now-retired head of the diocese. Robert Rotatori, the defense attorney whom Zgoznik tried to fire mid-trial, said the question of high-level authorization for the payments "flows through every charge" in the case. "They were passed through, directed by the diocese," he said. The defense said during the five-week trial that the payments amounted to extra executive compensation authorized by top church officials in a pattern of secret financial dealings. The prosecution portrayed the payments as unauthorized kickbacks Zgoznik made in return for church accounting work contracted out to his private business. The eight-county diocese of about 780,000 Catholics has said it was a victim in the alleged scheme.
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