Church employee charged in $68K theft
Woman accused of stealing from St. Joseph’s and priest, faces 40 felony counts, DA says
A parishioner and former assistant administrator of St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church on Wall Street is accused of stealing more than $68,000 from the Uptown house of worship and a priest, the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office said Friday.
Amanda Weiss, 28, of Kingston, was arrested Thursday, culminating an investigation that began in June, and was charged with the felonies of scheme to defraud, grand larceny, falsifying business records (four counts), possession of a forged instrument (32 counts), grand larceny and possession of stolen property, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Weiss is accused of stealing a total of $68,675.80 from the accounts of St. Joseph’s Church, 242 Wall St., and from the personal account of a priest at the church.
The District Attorney’s Office said Weiss stole the money over a period of 20 months by falsifying business records — including bank records, invoices and the church check register — and by using forged and stolen checks.
Members of the Archdiocese of New York went to the District Attorney’s Office on June 21 to report the possible misappropriation of church funds by Weiss, the prosecutor’s office said.
Archdiocese spokesman Joseph
Zwilling said Friday that Weiss worked as assistant administrator for the church for about two years. He said she was fired sometime after the investigation began but before her arrest.
Zwilling said the archdiocese is “grateful for the work of the District Attorney’s Office. They were very responsive and very helpful in addressing this difficult circumstance.”
Weiss was released from the Ulster County Jail on Friday by court order, according to a jail officer.