Friday, December 25, 2009

GROSSE POINTE WOODS, MICHIGAN CHURCH BOOKKEEPER PLEADS GUILTY TO EMBEZZLEMENT

A volunteer bookkeeper at a Grosse Pointe Woods church pleaded guilty on December 17, 2009 to four counts of embezzlement charges that could result in up to 15 years in prison.
Frederick Anthony Petz, 59, of Grosse Pointe Woods was charged in September for taking more than $90,000 from Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church. He will be sentenced in Wayne Circuit Court Jan. 25.
Petz had been an unpaid bookkeeper given total control of church finances, according to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. Petz also worked for Renaissance Vicariate, a group of 26 parishes that collaborate on Catholic programs and services in the Grosse Pointes, Harper Woods and Detroit.
Discrepancies in operating accounts from 2007 and 2008 were reported to the Catholic Archdiocese in the spring by the church's new pastor, Gary Smetanka. Grosse Pointe Woods Police were notified in May when an audit by the Archdiocese traced missing funds back to Petz, according to the prosecutor.

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