Man accused of stealing $100,000 from church

A man was charged Tuesday with stealing from the Indiana County church where he once served as business manager.

State police suspect that Daniel Yasick, 37, of Elmora, Cambria County, misappropriated more than $100,000 from the Church of the Resurrection in Clymer.

Troopers wrote in an affidavit of probable cause that the Rev. Lawrence Manchas asked Mr. Yasick to provide him with updated financial reports when Father Manchas began working at the Catholic church in 2011. When Mr. Yasick continually delayed handing the reports to Father Manchas, he grew suspicious.

Church members later confronted Mr. Yasick, and the case was handed over to state police. Investigators suspect that Mr. Yasick altered entries in church ledgers to hide the fact that he had misappropriated $108,245.52 in church funds, troopers wrote in the affidavit.

In some cases, they said, he wrote in the ledger that checks were written to pay for bills while the physical checks showed they had been made out for petty cash. In other cases, police said, Mr. Yasick improperly accounted for cemetery deed funds or inappropriately co-mingled funds.

As a result, troopers wrote, the church owed more than $230,000 to various vendors.

Mr. Yasick faces 190 criminal counts for offenses including theft, forgery and receiving stolen property. Mr. Yasick was released on $75,000 unsecured bail. Neither Mr. Yasick nor his attorney could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday night.