Pastor uncovers grand larceny

Robert and Harriet Donahue, long-time parishioners of Sacred Heart Church in Cairo, have been arrested by the Greene County District Attorney's office and charged with grand larceny in the second degree. The charges stem from the couple's allegedly stealing approximately $90,000 in parish funds over the past year-and-a-half.

According to Rev. Jeremiah Nunan, pastor, the entire community is in shock.

"Mrs. Donahue was our bookkeeper for about eight years, and both she and her husband were active parishioners. At one time, she was on our parish finance committee," he said.

Suspicions

Beginning in 1999 and continuing through early 2002, Father Nunan said, the Donahues made numerous unauthorized withdrawals from various parish accounts. They cashed some checks and deposited others into an account that they had opened in their own names at a local bank. He said that thousands of dollars worth of Sacred Heart checks were made payable to cash and endorsed by Mr. Donahue.

Father Nunan made the discovery last January, when he was looking through the parish checkbook.

"I noticed a check made out for about $1,500 to 'pastor appreciation.' I knew I had not asked for such money, nor had I ever received that amount," he said, adding that he would never use such a large amount of parish funds under that premise.

Calling in help

Father Nunan waited to see who would endorse the check. When the bank returned the canceled checks the following month, he noticed that Mr. Donahue had endorsed it. "I knew then what was going on," the priest said.

He contacted the parish attorney, James Keefe of Cairo, also a parishioner. Mr. Keefe told The Evangelist that after Father Nunan noticed the first check, they decided to keep their eyes on the parish checkbook. Over the next several months, more checks endorsed to cash turned up. Then they decided to go back into the parish accounts to see if there were more discrepancies. They found at least $90,000 worth.

"We immediately contacted the banks and had them investigate the activity on the parish accounts," said Mr. Keefe.

Eventually, they were able to determine what the Donahues were up to and contacted New York State Police.

Shock

On Jan. 23, the Donahues were arraigned in Catskill. Bail was set at $20,000 bond for each defendant. Last weekend, Father Nunan broke the news to parishioners at weekend Masses.

"People were just shocked," he said, adding that everyone "felt betrayed."

"This was a very difficult case that involved numerous leads and extensive investigative work," said District Attorney Terry J. Wilhelm of Catskill. "The State Police investigators did a thorough and professional job."

The D.A. added that any disposition of the case would include full restitution to Sacred Heart parish.

(01-30-03) [[In-content Ad]]