St. Leo The Great Says Former Finance Director Stole $1.6 Million From Church

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — The Church of St. Leo the Great — located in Middletown's Lincroft section —says its former director of finance and operations, Joseph Manzi, embezzled $1.6 million of the church's operating funds for the past six years.

However, the theft may have gone on for longer than that, says the church.

St. Leo sued Manzi in a civil lawsuit filed Friday, Aug. 8 in Monmouth County Superior Court. The lawsuit has been made public; you can read a copy of it here.

St. Leo’s says that for the past six years, Manzi, 78, used the church's two business credit cards — an American Express and Capital One business credit cards — to pay for tickets to sporting events; his own personal vehicles, including his Cadillac, construction projects on his personal home; landscaping on his home, gift cards; expenses for his daughter’s wedding; his own personal taxes and meals and cigars; among other things.

As St. Leo's director of finance, Manzi had complete control over those two cards. Charges for the cards were paid directly out of St. Leo’s operating account. The church said Manzi destroyed the card's monthly statements, to hide the charges he put on there.

Racking up all those charges on the church's two credit cards also allowed Manzi to "amass substantial and valuable Amex points for his personal use," said the church. "Manzi treated the St. Leo’s operating account as his personal piggy bank."

The lawsuit was filed by Tressler law firm, which is the law firm the represents the Catholic Diocese of Trenton. The Catholic Diocese of Trenton reported Manzi's alleged theft to Middletown Police and the Monmouth County Prosecutor, the diocese said in this statement it published online Aug. 13.

"The Diocese of Trenton is sharing the following information on behalf of St. Leo the Great Parish, Lincroft:

Concerns recently surfaced about possible financial improprieties committed against the parish. A preliminary investigation conducted by the parish and officials of the Diocese of Trenton confirmed a basis for these concerns, and the parish and Diocese took immediate steps to address them. These allegations were reported to both local and state law enforcement and civil remedies are being explored in connection with all misappropriated funds. The parish and Diocese are continuing to investigate this matter and have committed full cooperation with law enforcement efforts. As this is a subject of a law enforcement investigation and civil litigation, we are not able to comment further at this time," read the Diocese's statement in full. "We won’t be commenting further while this is under investigation and in litigation."

St. Leo the Great fired Manzi in late June

Manzi stopped working for St. Leo the Great on June 26, when St. Leo's fired him. The church said his employment was "terminated."

His alleged theft was discovered a month later, on July 31, when the parish’s bookkeeper was investigating an unusual charge on a parish credit card it was seeking to close. The charge was connected to Manzi's Cadillac, said the church.

"It was learned that Manzi had incurred charges on one of the parish’s credit card in connection with (his) Cadillac," said the church. "Viewed alongside the reasons for Mr. Manzi’s termination, as well as his influence over all financial aspects of the parish, St. Leo’s initiated an investigation to his suspected misconduct."

St. Leo's said it then opened its books and uncovered "widespread fraud and theft" at the hands of Manzi.

St. Leo the Great wants Manzi's $1.4-million home put into a trust

St. Leo's wants to be reimbursed for the $1.6 million. The church is also asking Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Chad Cagan to place Manzi's home into a constructive trust, which the church seeks to have control over. This is because St. Leo's says Manzi spent substantial amounts of the church's money to make improvements to his home, which is now worth an estimated $1.4 million.

Manzi currently resides on Hayes Court in the Chapel Hill section of Middletown, with an Atlantic Highlands mailing address.

"Given the rampant unauthorized use of St. Leo’s operating account, it is suspected that the mortgage and substantial renovations on the home have been paid with operating funds stolen from St. Leo’s by Manzi," alleges the church. "Manzi therefore was unjustly enriched by his wrongful acts, entitling St. Leo’s to the imposition of a constructive trust over that property."

Manzi has not reimbursed St. Leo’s for any of these personal charges.

Manzi was first hired by St. Leo's in 2014 and became St. Leo’s director of finance, operations anddevelopment, reporting to Rev. John Folchetti. As such, Manzi was responsible for managing and overseeing all the finances of St. Leo’s Parish, including, but not limited to, payment of expenses, accounts receivable, payroll, human resources, bookkeeping, among other things.