Newark Police investigating theft from St. Francis parish

NEWARK - The Newark Police Department is investigating an alleged felony-level theft of money from the St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church parish.

Parishioners at the largest Catholic Church in Newark were told Sunday by Father David Sizemore about the investigation. 

According to a letter sent to parishioners by Sizemore on Monday, Father Jan Sullivan became aware of "numerous discrepancies" in the financial records in 2016. Sullivan left the parish last month.

"It immediately became apparent that these inconsistencies were of a level that it was necessary to seek the assistance of our Diocesan Finance Office, which immediately began a review of both financial transactions and procedures," Sizemore wrote. 

In the letter, Sizemore said the review found practices that were not consistent with Diocesan procedures or general accounting practices.

"Many transactions indicated possible utilization of parish funds for inappropriate uses," Sizemore wrote. "For this reason, my predecessor (Sullivan) turned this over to the Newark Police Department for further investigation."

Newark Police Chief Barry Connell confirmed the investigation Wednesday and said it was a "felony-level investigation." 

A felony theft charge would require a theft of more than $1,000 and the degree of felony ultimately charged would depend on the amount of money alleged to have been stolen.

No charges have been filed and Connell would not comment on whether there was a suspect or how much money is involved.

St. Francis is the listed victim in the investigation, he said. 

The parish is holding a meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday to discuss the financial situation and other issues.