what to do if church pastor embezzled funds

xviii Shocking Facts Near Church Embezzlement

Churches would not exist without the generous donations made by tithing members. These fiscal supporters brand sacrifices to give to their church building because information technology is a bones Christian principle. Tithing church members give out of their hearts and pocket books only have an unspoken expectation – for church leadership to manage and safeguard those donations.

Every fourth dimension I read about fraud and embezzlement in the church I am amazed. I am amazed that a trusted church building fellow member could actually steal from their church; I'yard amazed that church leadership is naive enough to take little or no financial controls; and I'chiliad amazed at the amount of coin that can exist stolen without anyone fifty-fifty suspecting.

"Christians" stole $39 billion in church fraud in '14. Shocking? Check out 17 more staggering stats most church fraud > Click To Tweet

Christians tend to be accepting, trusting and forgiving and these basic characteristics can be what would exist thieves target and take advantage of.

A church's insurance company is a great resource that tin provide tips, training and resources to help guard against church theft. This list of things that you were probably not aware of is sourced from Brotherhood Mutual and Church building Common insurance companies and Frank Sommerville, JD, CPA.

1. An unbelievable thirty percent of all workers will steal – It is difficult to believe this 1, particularly in a church building setting. However, if someone has a personal need (or justification), easy access and no controls they are on a slippery slope to embezzling church funds.
2. The average church loss due to fraud is $120,000 – and growing every year – This number is frightening and should be a wakeup phone call for church building leadership. What types of things could a church building do with that much money?
3. An estimated 80% of church fraud cases don't get reported – Most church fraud is not reported and handled quietly behind the scenes. Part of this is due to a desire to go on the incident private, the forgiving nature of a church and quite frankly church leaders who don't know how to answer to internal theft.
4. Church thieves are creative – Thieves are creative by nature and have advantage of organizations that either have no policies and procedures or those that don't inspect or enforce written policy. Would be thieves know when access is easy and take advantage of haphazard financial oversight.
5. Church leaders don't believe that someone in their midst could steal from them – Many church leaders are naive to the fact that church employees steal and that those thefts are reaching unbelievable high dollars. They (think) they know their members and tin't wrap their caput around a trusted member and employee stealing from them.
6. Church theft is oftentimes from one of the virtually trusted people of the church – People who steal from a church don't vesture a sign on their back, they are the most trusted and loyal of church members. They are loved by all and gain admission to church resources through that trust.
7. In the first half of 2014, Christians stole more than $39 billion in church related fiscal fraud – This is a listen-blowing statistic. One that every church leader should sit down up and pay attention to.
8. During the same time flow churches spent $35 billion on worldwide mission work – How can it be that the church is losing more than to theft than it is using for mission work?
9. Researchers are expecting church building financial fraud to reach $threescore billion past 2025 – Churches demand to take steps at present to tedious this tendency.
10. Churches are targeted for fraud because of the very nature of the church and the counterintuitive nature of suspecting someone of stealing – Churches demand to stop beingness naive and put systems and processes in place to protect the financial resources that God has supplied.
11. Church thieves proceeds access to church funds through the nature of their position – Once an employee is trusted they are given more than access to church building cash, credit and avails.
12. An estimated 60 percent of churches don't have a process in identify to report suspected financial crimes – Because churches are trusting by nature, many fail the very real need to create structured procedure for reporting suspected theft. Create a process, write policy and communicate the procedure to employees, members and volunteers.
13. Church building thieves are only equally successful every bit the financial controls over church resources – Financial controls are how organizations safeguard against fraud and embezzlement. Contact a CPA or church fraud skilful to aid yous create controls to aid safeguard your church building's resources.
14. I tertiary of all congregations will fall victim to fraud – If a third of all churches are victims of fraud, what is the take chances that this is happening right at present at your church building?
15. Nigh frauds go on for 18 months before getting caught – Xviii months seems like a long time for something to go on. Having proper policies, procedures and financial controls in place can greatly reduce this time frame.
16. The average tenure of a church thief is 8 years – Ane would recollect that the longer someone works somewhere the more they tin can exist trusted. This is clearly not the case in church fraud.
17. 40% of frauds are defenseless through a tip – Annual audits are a swell way to catch church fraud but having an open policy on reporting suspected behavior seems to also help identify thieves.
18. The number one deterrent of fraud is the fear of getting caught – Create policies, procedures and controls so any would be thief will think twice about stealing God supplied church resource. Talk about the church building's delivery to safeguard resources and put potential thieves on notice that your church is watching.

Safeguarding church resources is an important responsibility of church leadership.

Taking the fourth dimension to put in policies, procedures and controls for every church financial resource is a groovy showtime footstep in protecting those valuable resources. Contact your insurance company today to see how they tin help!

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Patricia Lotich is the founder of Smart Church Management, a site devoted to providing complimentary articles, tools and resource for those managing a church operation. Patricia has ten years of Business Assistants and Church Operations experience and has a driving passion to help churches fulfill their call by managing the resources God has given them – people, fourth dimension and money. Follow Patricia on Twitter and Facebook

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Source: https://www.sharefaith.com/blog/2015/09/18-church-embezzlement/

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