Man accused of stealing nearly $225,000 from St. John Lutheran Church in Carnegie
CARNEGIE, Pa. (KDKA) -- Allegheny County police arrested and charged a lifelong member and treasurer of a Carnegie church with stealing nearly $225,000 from the parish.
William Reed, 73, of Moon faces multiple charges, including theft.
St. John Lutheran Church Board President Rob Windhorst has known Reed his entire life. He said Reed's family has belonged to the church forever, and he was distressed by the news.
"It's very unfortunate for the church that somebody that was so respected and trusted has violated that trust with our church," Windhorst said.
It was late April when Windhorst said they realized some bad accounting was a bigger problem.
"We had some ideas that there were some discrepancies. As we began to dig into them, we found out that the discrepancies were larger and larger," Windhorst said.
Police learned about a possible misappropriation of funds from church board members in May.
The criminal complaint said Reed held several positions at the church that gave him access to finances during the past 14 years.
It said when the board brought up "small accounting issues" to Reed, "[he] would assure [them] that everything was in order, and there was nothing to worry about," which they took "at his word."
Members said "he would 'stonewall' [them] and "refuse to turn over any requested documentation" about a "Good Samaritan Account."
"Good Samaritan fund was a fund that was set up to help people in need in the local community, and it was also a fund that was meant to be very discreet," Windhorst said.
Eventually, Reed started to close accounts, and Windhorst confronted him, saying they would open up a fraud investigation. At that point, Reed sent emails to the board, admitting he stole and misappropriated church funds.
Through a search warrant, investigators received more than 800 pages of data that revealed several payments over seven years made to a personal American Express account owned by Reed.
Windhorst said they immediately removed him from the church.
"All of the good works that his family has done for decades is now going to be tarnished by what he's done here," Windhorst said.
They've now taken steps to prevent any issues in the future and, thankfully, are in a strong financial position to persevere.
"Our church is praying for everybody in the congregation and the Reeds as well," Windhorst said.
Reed's attorney told KDKA-TV that his client turned himself in on Monday and is out on $5,000 unsecured bail.
Reed is scheduled to appear in court next Thursday. He said they're in the process of reviewing the complaint and that the charges are serious.
