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	Cops: Priests Kept Secret Accounts for the Good Life Police Continued to Unearth More Accounts Belonging to Two Priests Charged with Stealing from the Church By Stephanie Slater Miami Herald September 30, 2006 http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/15646208.htm Delray Beach - Detectives on Friday served more search warrants and uncovered more secret bank accounts as they continued to pore over the financial records of two South Florida priests alleged to have mishandled $8.6 million in church donations. "The dollar amount is constantly changing," Detective Thomas Whatley said. A 15-month investigation by Whatley and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement came to a head Wednesday night when they charged former St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church pastors John Skehan and Francis B. Guinan with grand theft over $100,000. Skehan and Guinan are believed to have diverted millions of dollars from collection plates and other donations to the church during the past 42 years. Guinan, ordained in 1966, served at Epiphany, St. Michael the Archangel and St. Hugh in the Miami area from 1969 to 1975, according to the Diocese of Palm Beach. He also was pastor of Christ the King in Perrine in the early 1980s. Skehan, ordained in 1952, served at Epiphany in South Miami, St. Anthony in Fort Lauderdale and Little Flower in Hollywood during the 1950s, the diocese stated. He was pastor at St. Matthews in Hallandale Beach from 1959 to 1963. Detectives said the priests hid the money in numerous "slush funds," and spent it on female companions, trips to the Bahamas and Las Vegas, real estate, and personal expenses, including property taxes, credit card payments and condo association fees. Skehan, 79, was arrested at Palm Beach International Airport Wednesday night as he returned on a flight from Ireland. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is attempting to making arrangements for Guinan, who is vacationing in Australia, to surrender himself in Florida. Detectives, armed with two search warrants Friday, seized more than fourmonths' worth of financially related mail from Skehan's home. They also searched the contents of a safety deposit box at a Delray Beach SunTrust bank. Skehan remained in the county jail Friday, as his attorney, Ken Johnson, asked the court to allow Skehan's Singer Island condo to be used as collateral for the $400,000 bond. Detectives say Skehan stashed at least $1.6 million in four "slush" accounts. Skehan, who served at St. Vincent's from 1963 until his retirement in July 2003, is said to have given two former employees $1,500 cash after they refused to help the diocese look into the allegations. He's alleged to have spent $134,075 on a female companion and used more than $100,000 for credit card payments. Guinan, who became pastor at St. Vincent's in September 2003, is believed to have mishandled upward of $400,000, spending much of it on gambling, trips to Las Vegas and the Bahamas and credit card payments, police records show. He also gave his former bookkeeper at St. Patrick's Church nearly $50,000. The diocese hired an accounting firm to do a forensic audit after an anonymous letter about the misappropriations was sent to State Attorney Barry Krischer in April 2005. That's a year after the diocese said it conducted an internal audit of St. Vincent's finances. It was diocese policy to do an audit every time a new pastor took over, but Guinan managed to stonewall the chief financial officer for eight months. Skehan had been a client of The Trouser Shop on Delray Beach's Atlantic Avenue for 20 years, said store owner Bruce Gimmy on Friday. He'd visit before each Ireland trip and buy pants for himself and his brother. Gimmy said he wasn't shocked when he heard of Skehan's arrest. "When he pulled out his money to pay for the pants, he would pull a roll out that would choke a horse," Gimmy said. 'I'd say, 'What are you? A race track guy?' He'd say, 'No, I don't do the races.' " Other times Gimmy would jokingly ask Skehan if he was taking 15 percent of the offerings. "I only take 10 percent," Skehan would reply. "We were kidding about it, but he was probably telling the truth," he said.
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