MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Husband/wife team allegedly bilked own church and nonprofit.

$2,784 for shoes. $71,342 for restaurants. $169,462 for travel.

These are just some of the ways the husband and wife co-pastors of a Minnesota church used charitable assets as their “personal piggy banks,” state prosecutors claim.

In a complaint filed April 2 by the office of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison Larry, Pastors Larry and Sharon Cook have been accused of misusing more than $2 million over a nearly 6-year period. The couple allegedly took the money from Real Believers Faith Center as well as a separate nonprofit, Les Jolies School of Dance, for personal use.

“This Complaint exposes brazen and systematic abuse in Minnesota’s charitable sector, where nonprofit organizations intended to serve the public good were instead exploited as personal piggy banks by those entrusted to protect them,” the complaint alleges. The Attorney General’s Office also filed a temporary restraining order to “protect nonprofit assets from being diverted and concealed when the defendants learned of the lawsuit.”

The Cooks face multiple charges, including breach of nonprofit director and other fiduciary duties under the Minnesota Nonprofit Corporation Act, and breach of trust. The church, dance school, and multiple other officers of those organizations also face prosecution.

“The breadth of wrongdoing is staggering: at least $2 million in nonprofit assets was siphoned through cash withdrawals, CashApp payments, and pledged as collateral for risky loans that served no charitable purpose,” the complaint states. “Defendants not only misused charitable funds, but they operated without basic governance safeguards, failed to maintain tax-exempt status, failed to maintain registration with the [attorney general’s office], and dissolved a nonprofit mid-investigation without the legally required notice to the AGO in an attempt to evade oversight.”

Prosecutors argue the Cooks obscured the source of their wealth by posing as successful entrepreneurs running multiple profitable businesses — a claim they say was false. For example, in 2022, Real Believers Faith Center reported the purchase of a gas station it renamed the Lion’s Den. However, according to the complaint, the purchase never occurred.

“The Defendants concealed their misconduct through sham governance and by creating deliberate confusion between nonprofit and for-profit entities,” the filing claims. “This pattern of deception and self-dealing strikes at the heart of public trust in charitable organizations.”

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NEW ORLEANS, LA — A Louisiana pastor is facing an 11-count indictment after being accused of embezzling $343,293.00 from an unnamed company.

The district attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Louisiana said in a press release on Tuesday (April 28) that Dale Sanders could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Sanders is the pastor of both Fifth African Baptist Church in New Orleans and Second New Guide Missionary Baptist Church in Metairie, Louisiana.

U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle announced that Sanders, 56, is accused of using “an unauthorized access device, specifically the debit card for Company A’s bank account [to obtain] U.S. currency of approximately $343,293.00.”

BARNHART, MO — A former employee of a Missouri church has been accused of embezzling thousands of dollars by writing unauthorized checks and has been ordered to appear in court in June.

Jennifer L. Geimer was recently ordered to appear in court to answer to charges that she stole at least $16,000 from Parkton Assembly of God in Barnhart, over the course of a couple of years.

The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has charged Geimer with stealing $750 or more, and she has been issued a criminal summons to appear in court on June 8, according to St. Louis-based Fox 2 News.

According to authorities, the church reached out to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office last September to report a theft, with a witness claiming that she saw Geimer write and endorse several unauthorized checks for her personal use.

The witness alleged that she found checks written outside normal church payroll procedures, and she gave investigators images of 38 unauthorized checks endorsed by Geimer.

Investigators examined church records and identified 27 unauthorized checks that Geimer wrote and endorsed, which totaled $16,177.91. Additionally, they found 20 more suspected unauthorized checks totaling $10,130.82, but they could not be verified, Fox 2 reports.

Geimer allegedly told a detective over the phone that she had made bad decisions and was willing to repay the church, but then she later declined to give an official statement after speaking with an attorney.

TULSA, OK — Federal court documents outline how a former Tulsa Catholic deacon is accused of moving large sums of money from a local church into personal accounts.

Investigators say the alleged scheme involved repeated transfers kept under internal approval limits and efforts to conceal the activity.

Details are outlined in a federal filing dated April 28, 2026.

Investigators say John Sommer carried out at least 77 unauthorized ACH transfers from church accounts in 2025.

The transactions were made over several months while he handled financial duties for the parish.

Court documents say Sommer caused or attempted to transfer more than $1.5 million from church accounts, routing the money into accounts he owned or controlled, prosecutors say.

The filing states the church’s actual loss totaled about $1.46 million, reflecting transactions that were successfully completed.

Investigators say none of the money was used for legitimate church purposes.

Prosecutors say each transfer was kept under $30,000, which allowed transactions to go through without additional approvals under church policy.

The alleged fraud occurred over nearly seven months in 2025, according to the federal information.

One count details a transfer of about $130,000 between bank accounts tied to the defendant, described as part of unlawful monetary transactions tied to the alleged fraud.

Sommer faces one count of bank fraud and one count of unlawful monetary transactions in federal court.

Church officials say they uncovered the issue in October 2025 and reported it to law enforcement. Parish leaders say Sommer admitted to making unauthorized transfers and was removed from his role.

They also say most of the money has been recovered through insurance and that restricted funds, including endowments and capital campaigns, were not affected.

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VAUGHAN, ONTARIO — A longtime pastor from Vaughan, Ont., is among 15 people charged in connection with an alleged fraud ring that police say targeted a program for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

York Regional Police say the investigation, dubbed Project Great One, was led by its financial crimes unit in partnership with the Regional Municipality of York.

The case began on April 3, 2025, when the region reported suspected fraud involving its Homelessness Prevention Program, a service for individuals not on other social assistance programs who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

A review by York Region staff identified numerous applications containing fraudulent information. Police allege that between January and December 2024, about $99,600 was fraudulently claimed.

Investigators say the suspects were organized and coordinated in carrying out the alleged frauds. Search warrants were executed at 12 residences and on 10 vehicles as part of the probe.

Police say Isaac Oppong, 38, of Vaughan, was identified as the principal suspect. He was a pastor at Miracle Arena for All Nations from 2018 until 2025 and is accused of using his position to recruit others to participate.

“Any time we see someone that’s a person in a position of authority, that’s abusing that authority in order to make financial gains or influence people’s decisions, we take that very seriously,” police said.

Authorities allege fraudulent claims were submitted to the homelessness program, which is designed to support vulnerable people in the community.

“That’s money that’s in a program to support people that are vulnerable within our community, and unfortunately, this is money that we’re still working to get back,” police said.

Global News interviewed Oppong in July 2023 about the church’s efforts to provide shelter for refugees and asylum seekers.

“They came here … with the expectation of the land of the free, land of opportunity. Unfortunately, some of them had a shocking experience,” he said at the time.

Miracle Arena says it became aware in June of concerns related to Oppong’s conduct in connection with separate legal matters and removed him from ministerial duties. The church says it was later advised by law enforcement of the investigation and that the alleged conduct was undertaken without its knowledge or involvement.

Police say Oppong used his position as pastor to influence others and believe there may be additional victims. The investigation is ongoing.

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CHARLOTTE, NC — A Catholic Charities official in the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, was charged with embezzlement and money laundering.

Leah Stewart, a disaster case management supervisor, is accused of spending funds intended for disaster victims on personal expenses, including repairs to her Mercedes.

Records show Leah Stewart, 46, was booked into jail Saturday, April 25, and charged with embezzlement and money laundering. She posted a $25,000 bond and was released on Monday, April 27.

According to an affidavit, Stewart, a disaster case management supervisor with Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte, made multiple personal purchases using a business credit card. Her responsibilities included overseeing the intake process for disaster survivors and identifying immediate and long-term needs, including housing, financial assistance, and other critical areas.

Police said that from April to May 2025, she made purchases not intended for disaster victims and not authorized by the organization; those transactions are listed below.

• Food
• Car insurance
• Mobile phone bills
• Personal hotel room stays
• Repairs to her personal vehicle

A witness reportedly told police that Stewart admitted using the card to pay for repairs to her Mercedes. Police said other transactions were not discussed but were uncovered during an audit of the card account.

MIAMI, FL — For the second time in a decade, the St. Coleman’s community has been hit by six-figure embezzlement.

A former Catholic school principal in Miami will avoid jail time after being convicted of stealing $200,000 from the school where she worked – the second six-figure theft discovered at St. Coleman’s Church and School in the past eight years.

Former principal Lori St. Thomas received 10 years’ probation and is being required to pay back $121,548 to St. Coleman Catholic School, where she had worked for more than 20 years before being fired in 2024.

The sentence comes less than a decade after another $200,000 theft was discovered at the same parish: The parish pastor resigned in 2018 after the archdiocese announced that he had stolen the money.

A retired IRS investigator told The Pillar the case should serve as a warning to Catholic leaders to ensure that parishes, schools, and other Church institutions have proper internal financial controls in place.

A unanimous jury last month found 62-year-old St. Thomas to be guilty of embezzlement, formally Organized Scheme to Defraud.

According to court records, the theft was discovered after St. Thomas was fired in October 2024. Payroll records showed more than $238,000 in supplemental pay to St. Thomas over the course of nine years, and indicated that she had signed off on the payments.

St. Thomas’ defense attorney had argued that the payments had been approved by the appropriate authorities, including school bookkeepers, the parish pastor, and the Archdiocese of Miami.

Her attorney also said the accusations were made in retaliation against St. Thomas because she had reported alleged sexual misconduct at the school.

The state had asked for a sentence of five years in prison and 20 years of probation. But the circuit court judge gave a lighter sentence, citing St. Thomas’ mental health.

A court psychologist testified that St. Thomas had PTSD, following chronic childhood abuse, and needed specialized mental health care that would not be available to her in the prison system.

“This is a non-violent crime for which the need for restitution outweighs the need for Imprisonment,” wrote circuit court Judge Tim Bailey.

Bailey also noted St. Thomas’ lack of previous criminal history.

“[T]he character and attitude of the Defendant indicate that she is unlikely to commit another crime…Accordingly, more than a preponderance of credible evidence exists to demonstrate that Dr. St. Thomas poses no danger or threat to society,” he said.

Bailey said St. Thomas “maintains strong family and community ties, is actively engaged in her community, and contributes meaningful value to it. She has dedicated her life to service of others; first as a nurse, and then as an educator and leader for children in the Catholic faith.”

This is not the first time in the past decade that the St. Coleman’s community has been hit by six-figure theft.

In August 2018, the Archdiocese of Miami announced that the pastor of St. Coleman Parish, Father Henryk Pawelec, had resigned following reports that he had taken parish money “for his personal benefit.”

Pawelec had been pastor at the parish for three years.

Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski said Pawelec had paid $236,469 in restitution to the parish.

“Father has been relieved of all duties in the Archdiocese,” he said. “Appropriate canonical proceedings have been initiated and the Archdiocese has reported this matter to the State Attorney’s Office for any possible civil action.”

Fr. Michael Garcia, the current pastor at St. Coleman, told The Pillar that Pawelec was later laicized after being found guilty in a canonical trial.

He said that Saint Thomas had been “afforded the same opportunity as the previous pastor to make restitution. She chose not to pay back the money, which led to the trial.”

Robert Warren is an assistant professor of accounting at Radford University, a retired IRS investigator, and an expert in theft and fraud in ecclesiastical contexts.

Warren told The Pillar the fact that these financial crimes were able to take place over a years-long period of time suggests serious insufficiencies in St. Coleman’s internal financial controls.

He said the situation at St. Coleman’s “should serve as a warning for Church leaders, including pastors and bishops, to exercise due diligence over internal controls, conduct regular audits, and exercise consistent discipline of those found to have committed similar conduct.”

“A proper internal control system is primarily the responsibility of management, but the school board members are ultimately responsible for ensuring that robust internal controls are in place and effective,” he continued.

Warren said the accounting system should have all disbursements clearly recorded and easily identifiable.

In addition, he noted that there was some overlap between the timing of the embezzlement of Pawelec and that of St. Thomas. Since Pawelec as pastor should have been overseeing parish finances while he was instead stealing from the parish, it is clear that “the tone at the top was not one that promoted financial integrity,” he said.

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