Church official faces third theft charge in Connecticutt

A former church finance chairman already charged with stealing from a nonprofit organization and an elderly woman was arrested by warrant Friday in connection with an embezzlement scheme to bilk First Baptist Church of $400,000, state authorities said.




Alan Jonas, 63, formerly of New Britain, was charged with first-degree larceny Friday after an investigation revealed that he had stolen from the 581 Meriden Ave. church, a spokesman for the chief state's attorney said in a statement.



Jonas has been incarcerated at Hartford Correctional Center since October after he was charged with first-degree larceny in the alleged theft of $70,000 from an elderly woman with Alzheimer's disease. He was also charged with first-degree larceny in January after an investigation revealed he had siphoned $38,000 from Chorale Connecticut, a 501(c)(3) organization, during his four-year tenure as treasurer on its board of directors, according to a warrant for his arrest.



The governing council of the church reported the alleged embezzlement to Southington police in February 2010 after estimating that $285,000 was missing from the organization's investment fund. Jonas acted as the church's finance committee chairman from 2004 to 2010, according to a warrant for his arrest, and he was solely responsible for the funds.



An investigation revealed that Jonas was depleting the church's accounts but also transferring money from his personal accounts to pay expenses to hide his embezzlement, state authorities said. After church officials began auditing the accounts, they also discovered that Jonas had written 111 checks made payable to himself from another church account, the warrant said.



Some of the church accounts, which had previously contained hundreds of thousands of dollars, had been reduced to less than $1,000 by the time the thefts were reported. The total loss to the church was tallied at $396,228.69, police said.



Southington police and the Financial Crimes Bureau of the Office of the Chief State's Attorney served Jonas with an arrest warrant Friday on a charge of first-degree larceny in connection with the church thefts.



According to The Associated Press, Jonas was convicted in 1999 of embezzling $22,000 from Middlesex Hospital, where he was chief financial officer, to buy pornography.



Jonas was held in lieu of $199,000 bond after his arraignment in New Britain Superior Court. If convicted of all three first-degree larceny charges, he could face a 20year prison term for each charge, state authorities said.