A church embezzlement case in Windsor is more dramatic than one under investigation in Troy.
Ontario Provincial Police arrested a priest accused of stealing more than $180,000 from his parish, Trevor Williams reports in The Windsor Star.
Former Ste. Anne’s Parish priest Robert Couture . . . allegedly pilfered the money from parishioner donations.
“It was quite a shock for everyone involved,” said Dave Savel, episcopal director of administrative services for the London diocese. “Parishioners at Ste. Anne’s deserve to know what happened and Father Couture should be held accountable for his actions.”
Couture, 49, . . . is charged with theft over $5,000 for allegedly stealing the parish’s money between 2002 and 2010.
On this side of the Detroit River, the FBI is investigating Rev. Edward Belczak of St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Troy. That inquiry involves archdiocese claims that the suspended priest mishandled at least $429,000.
In the Windsor case, missing money came to light in an audit after Couture was granted a personal leave of absence and left the parish in 2010, Williams writes.
Savel of the diocese urged finance committee members at each of the region's 120 parishes to carefully review bank accounts and financial practices, according to The Star.
