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	Silent Collection As Irish Priests 'Launder' Gifts By Jason O'Brien Irish Independent [Delray Beach FL] September 30, 2006 http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=30&si=1697935&issue_id=14714 The two Irish priests accused of stealing $8.6m (€7m) in offerings and gifts from their parish in the US may have taken much more. Florida police yesterday reacted to claims by one of the priest's lawyers that the alleged pilfering over a 42-year period had been grossly exaggerated by the authorities. "We didn't come up with the figure of $8.6m, that was the forensic auditor in the case," Delray police spokesman Jeff Messer said yesterday. The priests stand accused of spending the money on holiday houses, luxury travel, gambling in Las Vegas casinos and secret girlfriends. The scandal, at St Vincent Ferrer Church in Delray Beach, north of Miami, had members of the congregation reeling in disbelief. According to local and state police, who investigated the suspect finances at St Vincent Ferrer for more than a year, Mons John Skehan and Fr Francis Guinan acted as "professional money launderers" who took money from the collection plate and set up a network of slush-fund bank accounts to which only they had access. Popular Msgr Skehan (79), was a popular and highly regarded priest whose congregation included many prominent politicians and public figures in southern Palm Beach County. According to the police, however, he also used laundered money to buy himself a condominium near Delray Beach, a cottage on the Cliffs of Moher in Clare and a pub in Kilkenny. The police say Msgr Skehan spent $134,075 in church money on a woman described as his girlfriend, another $11,688 on family members, and more than $250,000 on himself. Fr Guinan (63), a longtime friend of Msgr Skehan who took over the parish in 2003, owns a string of properties in the area. The complaint said he was a gambler who spent lavishly in casinos in Las Vegas and the Bahamas. He was also alleged to have made cash payments to his secret lover, who once worked as a book-keeper at his old parish in Palm Beach Gardens. Msgr Skehan was arrested as he flew into Palm Beach from Ireland. Fr Guinan is believed to be on a Pacific cruise, although investigators said he knew there was a warrant out for his arrest. The revelations have left locals in shock, because they had regarded Msgr Skehan as a pillar of the community. The mayor, police chief and many police officers are parishioners at St Vincent Ferrer. "These guys lived the life they told everyone else not to live - and they lived it on everyone else's dime," Jeff Messer said.
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