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August 20, 2007, 01:23 PM ET
Trial Over Alleged $17.5-Million Embezzlement at Cleveland Diocese Opens
The trial of a former Catholic church employee accused of embezzling millions of dollars will open today in U.S. District Court, reports The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Anton Zgoznik stands accused of stealing $17.5-million. Prosecutors say that after submitting hundreds of small invoices to church departments with separate budgets and little way of checking up on each other, he routinely kept the duplicate payments. Mr. Zgoznik had been hired to modernize the church’s bookkeeping.
Mr. Zgoznik had been the church’s assistant treasurer when he retired in 1998 to open an accounting firm. He made the move at the behest of Joseph Smith, the diocese’s former chief financial officer. Mr. Smith then hired Mr. Zgoznik for the modernization, and Mr. Smith has been accused of taking $784,000 in kickbacks to facilitate Mr. Zgoznik’s embezzlement. Mr. Smith’s trial has not yet started.
In the meantime, lawyers defending Mr. Zgoznik have accused the diocese of destroying documents critical to their case. The defense lawyers are also pressing the court to allow them to submit evidence showing that a former bishop, Anthony Pilla, controlled several secret bank accounts, which the defense asserts is evidence that under-the-table dealings were normal.
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