Pastor of Detroit-area Church Resuming Duties after FBI Financial Investigation Closes

The Republic
June 22, 2015

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/d7865a1397e7438e8a14df5b806a2e67/MI--Priest-Financial-Probe

The pastor of a Detroit-area Catholic church is resuming his duties after being ordered in October to step aside amid an FBI investigation of church finances.

The Archdiocese of Detroit says the FBI has indicated that the investigation into funds at St. Kenneth Church has been closed. The resumption of duties for Rev. Thomas Belczak is effective June 27 and parishioners were given the update Saturday.

The archdiocese says it has appointed a delegate to the parish in Wayne County's Plymouth Township to provide more financial oversight.

Belczak's lawyer Karen Woodside tells the Detroit Free Press he cooperated with investigators while maintaining his innocence.

His brother, the Rev. Ed Belczak, was indicted in April 2014 in an alleged scheme to steal nearly $700,000 from a different church in suburban Detroit.