A longstanding member of the St. John Lutheran Church in Carnegie is now facing legal repercussions, with allegations of having embezzled almost a quarter-million dollars from the congregation's coffers. William Reed, 73, was entrusted with roles tied to the church's finances over a 14-year stint, including a tenure as treasurer, according to WPXI—he's accused of funneling $224,000 from the church to his personal expenses.
Despite board members detecting small accounting issues throughout Reed's time managing the church's finances it was only after the integration of a new accounting system that the full scope of discrepancies became apparent. Reed's habitual assurances did little to quell concerns that ultimately led to a deeper investigation which turned up substantial misappropriations connected to a "Good Samaritan Account," in a criminal complaint detailed by WPXI.
The Allegheny County Police conducted a thorough analysis, which included a review of 800 pages of financial documents, these records, as CBS Pittsburgh reported, revealed payments made from the church's account to a personal American Express owned by Reed, the misappropriated funds amounting to nearly $225,000.
Revelations of the theft came to light when Reed, confronted by the financial incongruities, confessed to two church board members regarding his actions he later approached a board member, as stated by WPXI, proposing a solution to "make this go away" with a direct $20,000 payment to the church, an offer that did not suffice, after which he was arrested and later released on a $5,000 unsecured bail—a preliminary hearing is scheduled for next Thursday, with details reported by CBS Pittsburgh.
