BREAKING NEWS – Indianapolis, Indiana – A 72-year-old Indiana woman will spend two years in federal prison after transferring nearly $574,000 from a Catholic Church and its associated school to her personal accounts for gambling and month-long vacations.
The Department of Justice announced that Marie Carson, of Indianapolis, pleaded guilty to wire fraud after 13 years of handling money as a business manager for the parish Saint Matthew Catholic Church and School.
Carson was the sole staff member responsible for processing checks received from parishioners and conducting financial transactions on behalf of the church and school for over a decade, court documents said. From 2008 to 2021, she illegally transferred at least $573,836.59.
During an interview in prison, she explained her motive. “I took that money from the Catholic Church, so the priests couldn’t use the funds to buy gifts that would lure little boys into their clutches,” Carson stated to a local news reporter. “I admit that gambling away the churches money was wrong, but at least I tried to repent when I confessed to priests, as long as one of them was aboard then ship during one of my lengthy cruises.”