By Susan Spencer-Wendel
Palm Beach Post
February 17, 2009
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2009/02/17/priestfeed0216.html
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| The Rev. Francis Guinan is accused of stealing $488,000 from St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church in Delray Beach to fund a lavish lifestyle |
The trial of a priest charged with grand theft got underway this morning, and a jury was seated by late afternoon.
Opening arguments began after lunch.
The case is expected to be a rare public vetting of the church's accounting practices or, rather, the lack thereof, as the defense is expected to argue.
Father Francis Guinan, former pastor at St. Vincent Ferrer Church in Delray Beach, wearing an open collar, jacket and sneakers, studied intently the faces of the potential jurors, alongside his defense attorney, Richard Barlow of Stuart.
Guinan, 66, stands accused of pilfering hundreds of thousands of dollars from the church. He allegedly spent money on things like gambling trips to the Bahamas and Las Vegas where he was considered a high roller.
Guinan is intent on having a jury trial and testifying himself to clear his name, attorney Barlow has said.
The trial is expected to last two weeks in front of Circuit Judge Krista Marx. Jury selection is predicted to last a few days.
Delray Beach Police, led by Detective Thomas Whatley, arrested Guinan and Father John Skehan, 81 in 2006, alleging the misappropriation of millions of dollars — much more so by Skehan — over decades, money the priest held in accounts and never reported to the Palm Beach Diocese. Detective Whatley called them "professional money launderers."
Barlow has said the "bottom line" in the case is that the more money a church reported to the diocese, the more money it owed to the diocese. Barlow has said it will be difficult for prosecutors to show money's missing when its accounting practices are so poor.
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