'Sins' of the Msgr. on trial, Fr. Time, Now Rev. Rolex may Have a lot more of it on his Hands - DA

NY Daily News ^ | 07.27.05 | BARBARA ROSS

[Coleus]

'Sins' of the Msgr. on trial

BY BARBARA ROSS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

 

Msgr. John Woolsey leaves court yesterday, charged with looting more than $800,000 from East Side church.

A Manhattan Monsignor with a weakness for Rolex watches, fine dining, expensive clothes and golfing vacations in sunny Spain was charged yesterday with looting more than $800,000 from his upper East Side parish.

Msgr. John Woolsey, 67, could spend 15 of his golden years in prison if he's convicted of filching from the collection plate at St. John the Martyr Church to pay for his luxurious lifestyle, prosecutors said.

Woolsey used "deceit and secrecy" to perpetrate "an egregious breach of trust," Assistant District Attorney Matthew Amatruda said.

During the seven years Woolsey served as pastor of St. John the Martyr on E.71st St., he allegedly took $836,744 in parish funds - putting it into his own accounts and using parish checks to pay personal credit card bills.

Woolsey is accused of using about $200,000 to feed his fetish for fine timepieces, a collection that includes Rolex, Breitling, Omega and Breguet watches. He also is charged with using church funds to nosh at Petaluma, the Lenox Room and other fine restaurants.

Golf was Woolsey's other passion, prosecutors said. Woolsey indulged himself with trips to the links in Florida and Vermont and maintained memberships at two local golf clubs, Winged Foot in Westchester and Beacon Hill in New Jersey, prosecutors said. "He's a scratch golfer," said Assistant District Attorney James Kindler.

Sporting a deep tan and a clerical collar, Woolsey pleaded not guilty to grand larceny, fraud and tax evasion as he was arraigned in Manhattan Supreme Court.

"There's obviously another side to this story," his lawyer Nicholas DeFeis said, pointing to a half-dozen supporters in the courtroom.

In a statement, DeFeis said, "The only money [Woolsey] ever spent on himself came from contributions that parishioners permitted him to use personally because hewas doing a great job as their pastor and shouldn't have to get by on the meager $15,000 a year that he received as compensation from the archdiocese."

Woolsey, a priest for more than 40 years, was released by state Supreme Court Justice Michael Ambrecht without bail but ordered to refrain from renewing his expired U.S. passport.

The archdiocese released a statement in which it claimed its audit of the parish books triggered the criminal investigation of Woolsey. "An effective financial reporting system for parishes is in place," the statement said.

The audit was ordered after the executor for a deceased parishioner, Rose Cale, alleged in 2003 that Woolsey was mishandling the finances of St. John the Martyr.

Prosecutors said yesterday that Woolsey has not been charged with stealing funds from Cale's estate, which left him $500,000 and is the subject of a civil lawsuit.

They said Woolsey is accused of stealing two bequests totaling $47,000 and donations from some parishioners who individually contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars over the seven years he was pastor.

Outside the church late yesterday, one parishioner who didn't want her name used said, "It's a shame. It makes you feel robbed spiritually that you put faith in someone who could do that."

Originally published on July 27, 2005

[Coleus]

one of the reasons why I advocate for an independent certified audit each yr. of all catholic churches. Most non-profit agencies undergo this process annually as a normal order of business.   Lots of people give cash in the basket and cash can not be traced.

NYC Catholic Priest Accused of Swindling Elderly Parishioner, bought home at Jersey Shore

Ok, his salary is $15,000 a yr. + room and board which isn't much but a priest should not be yearning for these worldly desires.  He can play golf at the county golf course, eat at a normal restaurant and wear a cheap K-Mart watch to tell time.  There are 50,000 priests in America, some with a vow of poverty who survive. I know some priests who are rich because they come from rich families.  They drive nice cars and belong to country clubs, that's OK so long as it's family money, not money from parishioners.  That $800K could have helped a lot of Catholic Charities.

[Ribeye]

"one of the reasons why I advocate for an independent certified audit each yr. of all catholic churches. Most non-profit agencies undergo this process annually as a normal order of business"
________________________________________________________
I assume you mean "all" churches and not just catholic?
Surely you don't think that only catholics are capable of theft like this?

[Palladin]

Coleus, this guy was a con man and a crook. I'm glad he's in jail now.

[jettester]

I am not sure what you mean by "most" but I would disagree with you if you thought "majority" including churches of all sizes. Once an organization achieves a certain size (donation income level), it behooves them to conduct the audit so that donors feel comfortable continuing to donate to the organization. The laws are definitely changing for the future though, with ENRON-type rules coming down for NPOs as well as FPOs.

[mware]

I pray that he will find a way to serve, even in prison.

I have met and chatted with Msgr. Woosley and liked him.

[jfsully]

Rolex Woolsey will never spend a day behind bars, that you all can be sure of.

[Elle Bee]

I've found that Rolex keep pretty poor time and are just too commonly ostentatious, Panerai and Omega are better timepieces if it's all about you and not what someone else thinks of your watch

.

[Palladin]

>>>I have met and chatted with Msgr. Woosley and liked him.<<<

Should I say "To each his own", or "Birds of a feather"?