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	Divine Justice for Priests up on Theft Charges By Sean O'Driscoll Sunday Times [Ireland] October 15, 2006 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-2404502_1,00.html Two Irish priests accused of stealing $8.6m (€6.8m) from parish funds in Palm Beach, Florida, put some of the cash into an investment company they called Shag. But in what could be interpreted as a case of divine providence, Shag Inc lost thousands of dollars to a fraudulent mortgage broker, Florida police have discovered. In a taped confession to detectives Fr John Skehan, 79, admits he bought properties in Ireland under his brother's name. Originally from Johnstown, Co Kilkenny, Skehan also has a number of bank accounts in Ireland under the same name but refused to identify them and said they contain his own money. Skehan and his successor in the St Vincent Ferrer parish in Palm Beach have been accused of stealing millions in gifts and offerings over 40 years. The priest, who ministered in the parish until 1999, was arrested at Palm Beach international airport two weeks ago as he returned from Ireland. He was charged with stealing $8.6m from the church, using the money to buy property and other assets. Police say Skehan used collection-plate funds to pay for a condominium, a $275,000 coin collection, a cottage on the Cliffs of Moher and a pub in Kilkenny. He is said to have made regular cash payments to a "girlfriend". Investigators say Skehan stored cash in secret slush funds and funnelled money into four bank accounts to avoid detection. He was succeeded in the parish in 2003 by Fr Francis Guinan, 63, from Eglish, Co Offaly. Guinan is accused of continuing to use the bank accounts for stolen church funds. Guinan has been described by police as a gambler who frequented casinos in Las Vegas and the Bahamas. He is said to have used church funds to pay for $15,000 worth of dental work, and also made cash payments to a "girlfriend". The diocese of Palm Beach began an audit after receiving an anonymous tip-off in April 2005. Colleen Head, a bookkeeper who worked at St Vincent's, has told police she helped shred documents and saw another bookkeeper shred computer disks as accountants hired by the diocese began to close in. She said Skehan sent a relative to his house to get rid of incriminating evidence. The relative told Head that the priest had phoned from Ireland to say there was a "huge mess at the church" and that Skehan wanted to "unload" some documents. Head said that, after helping to dispose of the evidence, Skehan had sent greeting cards to her and her mother, each containing $1,500. She refused to co-operate with the diocese investigation. Skehan later told her that she was a "great girl to stick up for him and his friend", and that he would "take care of her financially". Head estimated that Skehan spent about $20,000 (€16,000) on her during her time at the parish. Head told police that Skehan always warned her to keep bank deposits under $10,000 to avoid currency transaction reports. "Head recalled that if any tellers questioned all the cash money going into the hidden accounts, she would tell Skehan and he would change banks," said Thomas Whatley, a Delray Beach detective. Head told detectives that on April 12, 2005, when Guinan gave her a bag of collection envelopes from Easter masses, all the cash appeared to have been removed. Skehan has told detectives he "absolutely misappropriated" a "mountain of money" from the church, according to a report in the Palm Beach Post. He saw himself as the chief executive of a multi-million-dollar company who wasn't properly paid. "He was running a big business and getting nothing for it," police documents state. "He took what he had coming to him, as the diocese was cheap and never paid for his education." Skehan also told detectives he planned to will money to the church and had left $4m in a trust fund for St Vincent's school. Guinan is in Australia and authorities are negotiating to have him turn himself in to Florida authorities by the end of the month. Before arriving in St Vincent, Guinan was pastor at St Patrick Church in Palm Beach Gardens. In the early 1990s, parishioners there complained to the diocese about financial irregularities. They complained that the cost of a building project had escalated from $2m to $7m and the books did not balance. But the bishop rejected demands for an audit and told the faithful to "reflect on our blessings". Shag Inc was set up by Skehan, Guinan and another priest. The company put $90,000 into a mortgage scheme which later collapsed. Guinan had invested $85,000 of his own. The head of the mortgage scheme declared bankruptcy in 1991 and went to jail for defrauding investors of $2m. In an online message to parishioners, Thomas Skindeleski, who took over from Guinan in 2005, has said: "I am not trying to minimise the wrongdoing that took place, nor cast judgment either. But so much good was done with the 'misappropriated' funds that this cannot nor should not be overlooked. From among these funds, several accounts for the benefit of the parish and its school, totalling several millions of dollars, were established."
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