Church Embezzelment

If you do a search for the keyword phrase “church embezzlement” you will see many facts proving that this is one of the easiest forms of corruption that con artists take part in.

Church members can be particularly vulnerable, experts say, because of the level of trust given to church employees and volunteers.

Guide One Insurance, which insures about 45,000 churches in the United States, has paid out an average of $2.9 million on about 1,800 theft claims in each of the last five years, according to Emily Abbas, a company spokeswoman. Those figures include theft by outsiders as well asembezzlement by people inside the church.

Most cases of church fraud and embezzlement goes unreported due to the congregation’s embarrassment and fear of retaliation by church staff.

At one congregation, said Kent Egging, pastor of Bethany Covenant Church in Mount Vernon, Washington, the church's treasurer stole more than $45,000. The money was in an account separate from a building fund that had been put on hold. That separate account gave the treasurer two things that an embezzler needs to succeed -- access and no accountability, Egging said. "He could transfer funds into this separate account and then withdraw them," said Egging, "and absolutely nobody knew."

The treasurer created a false financial statement that covered up the transactions. Since he kept the books and reconciled the bank account, it was easy to avoid detection.

Lisa Curtis of the Denver District Attorney's Office economic crime unit urges churches and nonprofits to report any embezzling immediately.

"If you do not prosecute embezzlers," she said, "they will get away with stealing from charity -- and they will continue their thefts at other organizations."

Report Church Fraud to FBI Washington DC