wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Charges filed in Denver embezzlement case

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8997 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05585
Oct. 28, 2005

Charges filed in Denver embezzlement case

Former presbytery treasurer allegedly diverted $777,000 to construction firm 
 
by John Filiatreau

LOUISVILLE - A former treasurer of Denver Presbytery has been charged with
theft and securities fraud in connection with the alleged diversion of
$777,000 in presbytery funds.

	Gary Lee Campbell, 51, faces a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison
on each count. His bail was set at $100,000 after his arrest earlier this
week.

	The discrepancy in the presbytery's accounts was discovered during an
independent audit last year. The matter was referred to the Denver district
attorney's office in November.

	Campbell said he invested the money on the church's behalf in a
construction firm where he worked as comptroller. He said none was for his
personal use.

	Prosecutors and church officials said all but $310,000 has been
repaid, including $150,000 returned by the construction company, RWI
Contractors Inc., which is not a defendant in the case.

	Chief Deputy District Attorney Joe Morales said the charges against
Campbell are based on the entire $777,000. "It doesn't matter that he repaid
it," he told the Associated Press. "He should never have taken it to begin
with."

	The Rev. Janet Schlenker, the presbytery's stated clerk and chief
executive, said the funds were taken from investment accounts and did not put
the presbytery's operating budget at risk. She told the Presbyterian News
Service that the presbytery has investments totaling "in the neighborhood of
$3 million."

	Campbell served the presbytery as an accounting consultant and
treasurer from August 2002 to July 2004, when he resigned. He worked
part-time and was paid $500 a month.

	Schlenker said in January that Campbell claimed the money was given
as a line of credit to the construction firm, but she and other presbytery
officials "did not know anything about these transfers of funds." 

She said Campbell apparently believed the investment in RWI would give the
presbytery a better return on its money than it was getting at the time.

To subscribe or unsubscribe, please send an email to
pcusanews-subscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org or
pcusanews-unsubscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org

To contact the owner of the list, please send an email to
pcusanews-request@halak.pcusa.org