MICHIGAN
The Oakland Press
By CAROL HOPKINS
carol.hopkins@oakpress.com Twitter: @opcarolhopkins
Barbara Peluso of Troy often thinks back about how the Rev. Edward Belczak helped her family.
“He was there for our family when our daughter was hospitalized and visited her several times, bringing a teddy bear with him to cheer her up,” said Peluso, a long-time member of Troy’s St. Thomas More Catholic Church.
Belczak, who has served as the pastor there since 1984, is under investigation for possibly mishandling more than $400,000.
The most significant amount involved was alleged compensation and benefits for an individual best described as a “ghost employee,” who an estimated loss of $240,000 to the parish over the past six years, officials said.
At the end of May, Belczak sued the city of Troy in an effort to have his assets unfrozen.
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