A Suburban Philadelphia priest is accused of stealing more than $40,000 from his parish to play online games like Candy Crush and Pokemon.
Father Lawrence Kozak is accused of stealing from St. Thomas More Parish in Pottstown.
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia told the Catholic News Agency that a financial review "resulted in certain expenses and expenditure levels utilizing parish funds being questioned," the archdiocese said and "referred the matter to law enforcement."
Police arrested Kozak late last month on felony theft charges.
According to parish records, nearly 2,200 transactions were related to a category of spending identified as "gaming."
When interviewed by police Kozak allegedly said he "didn't realize when he went past the balance on his Apple Card [that] the charges were kicked over to the parish card."
The criminal complaint reviewed by the Philadelphia Inquirer said the priest told officers, "There's no excuse except that he wasn't paying attention and should have been."
Kozak said it was possible he had used the church credit cards accidentally because he was not "a details guy," the affidavit said.
But the business manager told investigators she believed Kozak knew the parish card was being used for his gaming and said she had previously warned him about the practice.
He is on administrative leave from the church during the investigation.
