One of Milwaukee’s largest Catholic churches is likely the victim of financial fraud at the hands of a now dismissed priest. Leaders at St. John Vianney in Brookfield are urging people not to rush to judgment and to wait until the forensic examination is over and we have all the facts. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the news will be good.
Last December, Father Leonard Van Vlaenderen was arrested and charged with misdemeanor cocaine possession. He has pleaded no contest to the charge and will be sentenced this month. He was put on leave from the church, and three parishoners began examining the church’s books.
That group has now asked that an official forensic accounting investigation be completed, and the church is overpaying Virchow Krause to do the work. The investigation will go back to at least 2000 in order to provide a solid comparison of numbers and evaluate the current numbers.
Apparently, it has been noted that cash collections were down, but it is possible that it is due to tax code changes (which do not allow a deduction for cash donations without a receipt) and a change in the Mass schedule. This issue was made known to the church’s 8,500 members because it was the right thing to do, but Father Paul Hartmann has asked that they not speculate yet whether or not a fraud has actually occurred.
My next installment of The Fraud Files, a column I write for the Wisconsin Law Journal, discusses the issue of financial fraud at churches and what can be done about it. I’ll post here as soon as it runs.
I look forward to that column, Tracy. The one thing that is easiest and most imperative to do is simply to have multiple people looking at the books. When I have heard about fraud at churches there is usually only one person responsible for the books (usually a CPA who is a parishioner) and nobody looks over their work to make sure they are doing it right and not stealing.
Michael your point is the main point of my article. It’s about “segregating duties” so that people are naturally checking on one another’s work. Even though many churches think they can’t possibly segregate duties, they can. All they need is two people, and if they have three, they can do even better.
How do you know that the church is “overpaying” Virchow Krause to do the work? Forensic accounting is very difficult and time consuming and needs to be done right, especially if criminal charges could hang in the balance.
Hi Schenck employee… Thanks for commenting. I know they’re overpaying because I work in the same marketplace as VK and I know their fee structure and what they provide for it. The church is paying too much and getting too little. Did Schenck submit a proposal for this project?