Woman accused of stealing $300,000 from Wisconsin priest
October 28, 2014
A Wisconsin woman has pleaded not guilty to 23 counts of felony theft after a priest gave her $318,000 over the period of a year.
Father John Schultz, a priest of the Diocese of La Crosse, said he had compassion on Cheri Hofkes-Zerwas, 54, when she told him that she needed funds to pay her bills. Instead, according to police, she used the money to make 82 trips to casinos.
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Further information:
- Eau Claire woman pleads not guilty to scamming priest out of $300,000 (WQOW-TV)
- Police: Woman lied about need for financial help, made 82 casino trips (Eau Claire Leader-Telegram)
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Posted by: garedawg -
Oct. 29, 2014 10:55 AM ET USA
This guy had 300K stashed away? I'm in the wrong line of work!
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Posted by: Erusmas -
Oct. 28, 2014 7:41 PM ET USA
Did this priest give her three hundred thousand dollars from his personal fortune? Or did the money belong to a parish, or a diocese, or some other organization? The odds-makers at nearby casinos make the latter choice the betting favorite by far. I expect to hear next that the priest has also been charged with some crime.
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Posted by: feedback -
Oct. 28, 2014 4:59 PM ET USA
$300 would be a lot of money, but how do you give one person $318,000 to pay "bills"? Father's mental capacity may be quitting.
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Posted by: ElizabethD -
Oct. 28, 2014 10:59 AM ET USA
Similar scam was perpetrated by an African immigrant couple on Discalced Carmelite nuns in Brookfield, WI. Couple had a sad story about bills and higher education expenses & were given 100s of thousands from the nuns' healthcare fund. They went and gambled with it. Priests & religious who are so seriously foolish (even w personal funds) or don't take care to use funds for the mission of the Church give scandal & even if they meant to do good, they do real harm, not unlike a "bling bishop" case.
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Posted by: 1Jn416 -
Oct. 28, 2014 10:51 AM ET USA
This is a very strange incident and I think there is more here than is being reported. From what I can find online, Fr. Schultz is 74 and has been retired as a result of this. He's not unintelligent since he has an STL from the Gregorian University in Rome. And he gave Ms. Hofkes-Zerwas his personal retirement money, not church money. So, what is going on here? Is he losing his mental capacities? Just really gullible?