Anglican priest accused of stealing over $200,000 arrested again
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/04/2015 (3968 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A 32-year-old man was arrested after an investigation revealed that he stole more than $200,000 from his former employer, according to Brandon police.
Police identified the man as Anglican priest Noah Njegovan, the son of Brandon Bishop Jim Njegovan. Civil court documents allege that Noah made trips to Sin City, and meals and massages were among the fraudulent purchases using a church credit card.
In total, more than $200,000 in fraudulent purchases were made, documents state — including cash advances, payment of meal, bar and hotel bills and a trio of trips to Las Vegas.
Police said the fraudulent transactions and false bookkeeping happened between 2010 and 2012. In 2012, a diocese employee found the financial records were in disarray and a considerable amount of money was missing.
The fraud went undetected since frequent payments were made from a diocese bank account using Internet banking.
Specifics of the allegations against Njegovan are laid out in a civil lawsuit filed against him by the diocese’s insurer in a bid to recover the money. Njegovan has since filed a statement of defence in which he denies any fraud, misuse or misappropriation of funds.
Njegovan was previously charged with fraud over $5,000 in relation to the case, but the Crown withdrew that charge in March 2014, pending a forensic audit of church finances.
Njegovan’s re-arrest was a result of that forensic audit, police said. On Thursday, he was charged with fraud over $5,000 and theft over $5,000. He has been released to appear in court on May 21.
The allegations against him haven’t been proven in court.
Meanwhile, the court has frozen Njegovan’s assets.