NEW YORK (AP) — A preliminary investigation of longtime financial wrongdoing in the administration of the Orthodox Church in America confirmed claims of impropriety that outside auditors said "centered on and around one individual."
The Holy Synod of Bishops and the Metropolitan Council, which oversees church administration, said that financial controls had been "circumvented" at least since 1998, and that auditors had uncovered a "pattern of personal use of church money" for years.
The person believed responsible for the misconduct was not identified in the Dec. 12 statement and no figure was released on the amount of money involved. A spokesman for the 400,000-member church, based in Syosset, N.Y., said he could provide no further details.
Church leaders commissioned the audit following claims by former treasurer, Protodeacon Eric Wheeler, that the church chancellor, Robert S. Kondratick, and Metropolitan Theodosius, the now retired head of the church, were the chief perpetrators of "financial corruption."
Among the wrongdoing auditors said they uncovered were falsified financial reports and attempts to divert money that had been donated to charity.
Harry Kutner, an attorney for Kondratick, said Tuesday "it's pretty obvious" the person singled out in the report is his client. Kutner insists that the clergyman, who was dismissed as chancellor in March, did nothing wrong. "He has nothing to hide," Kutner said, arguing leaders of the denomination are scapegoating Kondratick to maintain their authority in the church.
Theodosius, who retired in 2002, declined to comment.
Mark Stokoe, a Dayton, Ohio, layman who runs ocanews.org, which is pressing the church for reform, called the preliminary results "a step in the right direction." The audit was conducted by the accounting firm Lambrides Lamos Moulthrop and the law firm Proskauer Rose.
The church has appointed a committee of laypeople and clergy to oversee the rest of the Proskauer Rose investigation, which is expected to conclude within a few months. Church leaders are also overhauling their administrative structure to prevent any future wrongdoing.