Former director of Lansing Diocese's St. Francis Retreat Center facing charges
LANSING, Mich., (CBS DETROIT) - Criminal charges have been filed against a 70-year-old priest accused of bilking several priests out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel Thursday announced criminal charges have been filed against Father David Rosenberg, former director of the Lansing Catholic Diocese's St. Francis Retreat Center, for allegedly embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from three fellow priests.
Rosenberg, of Dewitt, was arraigned Thursday before Magistrate Nikki Maneval in the 65-A District Court in Clinton County. He was given a $25,000 personal recognizance bond with conditions that he is prohibited from acting as a fiduciary and must relinquish any current power of attorney appointments.
Rosenberg is charged with the following:
- Three counts of Embezzlement from a Vulnerable Adult $100,000 or more, a 20-year felony;
- One count of Uttering and Publishing, a 14-year felony;
- One count of Larceny over $20,000, a 10-year-felony;
- One count of Perjury, a 15-year-felony, and;
- One count of False Pretenses over $100,000, a 20-year-felony.
Between 2015 and 2021, Rosenberg was the director of the Lansing Catholic Diocese's St. Francis Retreat Center in Dewitt. On the grounds of the Retreat Center are apartments that house retired Catholic priests. Two of the priests resided in the apartments until their deaths, and one priest still resides at the Retreat Center.
It is alleged that between January 2018 and December 2020, Rosenberg embezzled approximately $830,000 from the three priests and used the money to fund his charitable foundation, FaithFirst, formerly known as the Rosenberg Family Corporation. Rosenberg accumulated wealth for FaithFirst in part by embezzling money from the elderly priests living at the Retreat Center.
A probable cause conference is scheduled for Dec. 15 and a preliminary examination for Dec. 22.