Scales of Justice

LA CROSSE, Wis. (Midwest Communications) - A pastor in La Crosse is criminally charged with embezzling $200,000 from the Catholic Diocese and 2 parishes in nearby Crawford County. 59-year-old Reverend Robert Chukwu has dual citizenship in the U.S. and Nigeria. And prosecutors said he gave cash to a nun, priests, a family, and a school in Nigeria from 2007 through last year. Chukwu also allegedly sent a 40 foot container to Nigeria with $100,000 worth of candlesticks, artificial flowers, and more. He’s free on a signature bond, but he cannot leave Wisconsin. A preliminary hearing is set for February 15th, when a Crawford County judge will decide if there’s enough evidence to order a trial for felony embezzlement.

Authorities said Chukwu bought his merchandise on a debit card with insurance money from the heavy floods in southwest Wisconsin in 2007. Officials said he also made cash withdrawals from the debit card, and sent the money to Nigeria. Prosecutors said they found a large stack of money in Chukwu’s parsonage. An accounting firm eventually discovered the missing cash from the diocese and Catholic churches in Gays Mills and Soldiers Grove. That’s where Chukwu served before he was recently transferred to La Crosse.

(from WTAQ-Green Bay)