Employee charged in church theft
Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published February 23, 2007
Detroit – Robert A. Schultz Jr. faces up to four years in prison, if convicted of stealing offering envelopes from the safe at St. Mary Queen of Creation Parish in New Baltimore.
Schultz, a 16-year employee of the parish, was arraigned last Friday on a charge of larceny in a building, a felony. He is alleged to have stolen an undisclosed amount of cash from the parish.
The Archdiocese of Detroit is assisting the parish in conducting an audit to determine the extent of the missing contributions.
Schultz was arrested after the parish turned over to police surveillance camera videotape that allegedly shows him removing envelopes from the safe during Communion. The parish had installed the camera after a parishioner complained about a discrepancy on his year-end statement.
Fr. Nick Zukowski refrained from going into details, but said in a Feb. 15 statement, "As pastor, I can say that I am grateful that it was our own internal due diligence that first discovered this matter. And I pledge that we will continue to be careful, watchful stewards in securing the generous donations from our parish family."
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