NEW LONDON, Mo. — A longtime deacon and church treasurer has been charged with two federal counts of wire fraud in connection with the theft of more than $300,000.
The 68-year-old treasurer of Antioch Baptist Church, New London, Missouri, was arrested and taken into custody by FBI agents March 9. The arrest resulted from an investigation into a “suspicious” fire that destroyed Antioch’s church building in December 2016. The church finance and budget committee began looking into alleged discrepancies in the church’s books in March 2016 after funds that were reported to have been sent as Cooperative Program gifts to the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) did not line up with the amounts listed in the annual giving reports published by The Pathway, the newsjournal of MBC. Missions offerings and pastor’s retirement payments for a 23-year period also were unpaid. In October 2016 finance committee members confronted the treasurer. On Dec. 20, 2016, the church was destroyed by fire. Authorities have called the fire “suspicious.”
A 2017 study by LifeWay Research suggested that as many as 7 percent of Baptist churches have had someone embezzle funds. (TAB)
Share with others: