Spain: Parish Priest Embezzled Over 500,000 Euros
Don Casado embezzled 513,000 euros from the parish of Divino Salvador de Vejer between 2014 and 2018 through various bank transactions made in his favour from church accounts.
The judgement ordered Casado to repay the stolen amount to the parish and imposed a three-year ban on exercising the ordained ministry and an indefinite ban on holding any administrative position involving the management of church property.
A civil trial is currently underway. The priest testified this week in a court in Cadiz.
According to the Diario de Cádiz, the prosecution is asking for an eight-year prison sentence and the return of the stolen money.
Casado claims to have been the "victim of extortion" during the adoption process of a minor from Equatorial Guinea.
He insisted that he had the bishop's permission to use these funds, but there was nothing in writing.
When asked why transfers continued to be made from the parish's account to his between 2014 and 2018, when the adoption process had already been completed, he replied that "I was paralysed by fear".
According to him, someone threatened him with emails saying that if he did not hand over the money, the child would be taken away from him. The priest did nothing to find out whether the emails he had received were genuine.
Picture: InfoVaticana, #newsUhlecodatu