Even pastors are not immune to vice. A US priest recently confessed to having wasted tens of thousands of US dollars on mobile games.
Those: Canva
A church scandal of a special kind: Reverend Lawrence Kozak, a pastor at St. Thomas More Church in Pennsylvania, admitted to embezzling tens of thousands of dollars in church funds. The money flowed into microtransactions for mobile games. Especially in the popular titles Candy Crush and the mobile offshoot of Mario Kart, Mario Kart Tour.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the pastor was arrested by authorities in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, on April 25. He is accused of embezzling $40,000 in church funds from his former congregation, St. Thomas More Church. Reverend Kozak resigned from his position in November 2022. Investigations had shown that he… “an astronomical amount of Apple transactions” made with the church credit card. The whole thing is said to have taken place between September 2019 and July 2022. Apparently the priest had not only used his church credit card to invest in mobile games, but also bought gifts for his goddaughter.
Pastor in the crossfire
According to the reports, the priest told investigators at the time that he used the money to gain an advantage in the mobile titles he played. He expressly emphasized that this was not gambling. Kozak added that he is already undergoing treatment for his addiction. However, he denied that he intentionally used the church funds for the massive microtransactions. Instead, he claimed St. Thomas More Church’s credit card information was already stored in his phone, causing the charge to occur automatically. The priest is said to have already transferred $10,000 back to the community from his personal bank account.
After his ouster, the priest apparently sent another check for $8,000 to his old parish. In an accompanying letter, Kozak apologized to his successor and expressed his desire to pay off his debts. The priest is currently out on bail while his lawyer reviews the charges and contacts authorities.
Quelle: The Philadelphia Inquirer