MICHIGAN
The Desert Sun
Troy pastor under embezzlement investigation bought $500,000 Florida condo from his church manager
The charismatic Catholic pastor removed last week from his parish in Troy amid an embezzlement investigation bought a half-million-dollar condo in Florida from his longtime church administrator, the Free Press has learned.
Adding another layer to the case that has shocked and captivated metro Detroit Catholics, the St. Thomas More administrator, Janice Verschuren, is no longer employed by the parish, according to the Archdiocese of Detroit.
The church’s parish council was told on Monday about the departure of Verschuren, who has worked at the parish since 1994, archdiocese spokesman Ned McGrath said Tuesday.
In March 2005, Rev. Edward Belczak, the pastor at the church, purchased the property in Wellington, Fla., for $500,000 from Verschuren, the church’s administrator and facilities manager, and her then-husband, Michael Verschuren, according to public records in Palm Beach County. In 2011, Belczak, 67, transferred the property to a trust in his name, according to documents reviewed by the Free Press.
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