Manager spent $1.5M using church’s credit card for guns, travel and cars, feds say
A manager in charge of a church’s finances was caught using a church credit card to spend over $1.5 million on his own expenses, federal prosecutors said.
He used the credit card toward guns, travel, cars, boat and marina fees, a luxury watch and more — items wholly unrelated to the business of the Broad Street United Methodist Church in Cleveland, Tennessee, according to prosecutors.
The man, 50, of Chattanooga, also lied about having brain cancer and wrote checks to himself to support nonexistent medical bills, officials said. He’s accused of saying these checks were church member donations.
Now he’s pleaded guilty to a wire fraud charge in connection to defrauding the church, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee announced in a Feb. 27 news release.
McClatchy News contacted his attorney for comment on March 2 and didn’t receive a response.
As the Methodist church’s business manager, the man could issue checks, control the church’s checkbook and handle church expenses and had access to the church’s bank account, according to a plea agreement.
He also maintained the church’s books and records, tracked church donations and was in charge of receipts for church donations, the plea agreement says.
From 2014 through October 2021, he used the church’s credit card for himself, according to prosecutors.
During this time, in 2019, he told church officials he was receiving treatment for prostate and brain cancer, resulting in a pastor providing $3,500 toward his medical bills, according to prosecutors.
Afterward, the man continued to issue checks to himself for his supposed medical expenses, prosecutors said.
He also put the church in a $900,000 tax debt after preventing the payment of payroll taxes to the federal government, according to the plea agreement. Church leadership was unaware of this at the time.
Now the man is facing up to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud, prosecutors said. He could be ordered to pay restitution and forfeit property.
This story was originally published March 2, 2023 at 10:43 AM with the headline "Manager spent $1.5M using church’s credit card for guns, travel and cars, feds say."
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