Will a Man Rob God?

Bible scripture Malachi 3:8 asks, “Will a man rob God?” The answer is a resounding, YES. Throughout my lifetime I’ve heard many ministers deliver sermons using Malachi 3:8 as the text for their messages.  However, their sermons all referenced robbing God by means of not paying tithes and offerings.  However, in this day and age neglecting to pay tithes and offerings aren’t the only methods of robbery occurring in houses of God. From a fraud examiner’s point of view another real issue is protecting donations from internal and external thieves.

Internal Fraud Cases

One would hope that houses of worship would be the last places criminals would defraud.  Unfortunately, that hope would be dashed. The same types of fraud that affect secular entities are also present in religious organizations. Worship centers are affected by fraud schemes more often that we know and in many instances are committed by those least expected, trusted members and/or officers of the church. Due to embarrassment or empathy toward fraudsters some churches choose not to report crimes.  Within the past week I learned of a relatively small Baptist church in a rural Southern United States town whose newly appointed pastor of several months cleaned out all financial accounts and skipped town due to collusion with the church secretary.

In 2015 a New York City Evangelical church pastor was hospitalized for three weeks and it was noticed that during his absence the offering was almost three times greater than when he was in attendance.  Suspicious members set up a surveillance camera in the church office which captured the pastor skimming money from the collection nine times in one month after his release from the hospital. ChristianPost.com: Preacher Caught Stealing Church Offering. 

In 2014 a Montgomery, AL  Missionary Baptist church made news headlines when their pastor of 23 years revealed in Sunday sermons that he had contracted full blown AIDS in 2008, had slept with several women in the congregation after learning of his AIDS diagnosis, had used illegal drugs during his pastorate, had not attended conventions which the church had given him funds to attend, but instead used the funds to ‘have a good time’ and on occasion throughout his tenure committed drug and sex acts on church property. (U S A Today: Pastor Admits Having Aids and Sleeping with Church Members)   (WSFA: Pastor Admits Having Aids Along with a Host of Additional Revelations). 

 Also in 2014 the U. S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Michigan indicted a Catholic priest and parish administrator for stealing almost $700,000.00 from a church over an eight year period.  The indictment alleges that from 2004 to 2012 the fraud duo diverted funds from the church and from the Archdiocese of Detroit for their unjust enrichment.  According to reports, they created and submitted falsified financial reports to cover the crime by underreporting the parishes operating receipts.  (https://www.fbi.gov/detroit/press-releases/2014/priest-and-parish-administrator-charged-with-stealing-from-troy-church).  

A March 2016 article reports that a well known worshipper at a Catholic church in Lagos, Nigeria was observed stealing money from the collection box.  After the regularly scheduled service closed, armed with a stick and several pieces of gum, the worshipper went inside the chapel for additional blessing and prayer.  Through the chapel window, a security guard observed him place the gum on the end of the stick and slowly enter the gum-laced end of the stick into the hole on the collection box. Each time he did this monetary notes from the inside of the collection box would adhere to the gum and as the stick exited the praying worshipper placed the stolen funds in his pocket. (http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2016/03/03/man-caught-stealing-money-from-churchs-offering-box/).

 External Fraud Cases

From the previously cited incidents we see that fraud committed against churches is not limited to a specific geographic location.  Nor, is it limited to a specific denomination or size.  Not only are churches targeted by internal fraudsters, external thieves focus their sights on them too. 

Recently an Alabama man was charged with securities fraud for reportedly defrauding a church out of $1.5 million.  The church’s building had been destroyed by a tornado in 2011 and they sought avenues of generating $3 million dollars to fund construction of a new building.  The fraudster apparently mislead the church into believing that he would double $1.5 million via investments within a specific time frame.  Instead, he allegedly spent the church’s funds on personal expenses among other things.  http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2016/07/man_charged_in_15_million_secu.html

Phony or unrealistic investment schemes are common tricks used to swindle churches and their congregants out of money.  Benevolence is another common tactic used to fraudulently obtain funds from faith-based organizations.  Not all, but many benevolence seekers are not at all hard-on-their-luck.  Their occupation is to go from church to church in town after town spinning the same needy tale.  They’ve perfected the act to a science and they often collect from each church they approach. http://www.wral.com/second-suspected-church-scammer-arrested/4800451/

Why Are Churches Reluctant to Report Fraud?

• Embarrassment often plays a role in decisions against reporting fraud incidents.
• Empathy toward the fraudster deters churches from reporting fraud, especially if the fraudster is a church member or officer.
• Fear of being viewed as gullible or administratively and spiritually inept.  Donations and attendance are often affected when fraud is reported or publicized.

Tips on How Churches Can Avoid Internal and External Fraud

• Implement a checks and balance system or dual control.  No one group or individual should have sole authoritative power, especially when it comes to finances.  For example; have multiple signers on financial accounts, require multiple signatures on checks that are issued by the church, multiple individuals must be present when donations are being transferred from one place to another, multiple people must also be present as donations are being tallied, donations must be tallied multiple times by different individuals to insure that the totals are correct and all funds are accounted for.  Those tasked with the aforementioned responsibilities should be rotated with different individuals periodically in order to detect possible collusion and/or any discrepancies.
• All donations should be properly documented and accounted for in accounting records. Proof of documentation must be kept current and available for audit or review at all times.
• No funds should be disbursed without some type of dual control approval.   All disbursement receipts must be kept on file and readily available for audit or review at all times.
• All funds disbursements must be properly documented.
• If something sounds too good to be true, especially investment opportunities, it often is.  Perform due diligence by researching an individual’s or business’s credentials to make sure they are legitimate and properly skilled in their area of professed expertise.
•  For added guidance check a business or individual’s references and consumer reviews before entering into business transactions.  Better Business Bureaus and exploratory internet searches are often good resource tools.
• Do not provide benevolence funds directly to individuals or groups.  For instance; if the temperature is in the triple digits and someone claims to have 6 small children and an elderly parent in the household without any electricity, the benevolence seeker should provide the electric bill to the church and payment should be made directly to the electric company.  The same thing should be done if the need is grocery or what have you.  Funds should be paid directly to the merchant. 
• Perform due diligence before disbursing benevolence funds.  Research by contacting the merchant or making other inquiries to make sure the need is legitimate.

The link to each fraud report I referenced has been included throughout the article for your review to show that I didn’t make them up.  Unfortunately, these incidents are literally just a drop in the bucket.  I could go on and on.