Pinoy priest embezzles $.6 M in US

FAIRFAX, Virginia – A Filipino Roman Catholic priest accused of stealing church donations to support his secret wife and their three children in the United States and wire money to the Philippines pleaded guilty to embezzling about $600,000 (P26 million) from two Roman Catholic churches in Virginia.

The Rev. Rodney Rodis, who had previously pleaded not guilty to mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, changed his plea in an appearance before US District Judge Richard Williams in Richmond on Friday and is scheduled to be sentenced in February 2008.

Rodis, 51, could be sentenced to 20 years in jail, fined and ordered to pay restitution.  

Changes to not guilty pleas often occur when a plea bargain is made. The defendant may change a not guilty plea to a guilty plea in exchange for a lesser charge associated with a lighter sentence.

Rodis embezzled money from Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Bumpass and St. Jude church in Mineral from 2002 until last year, prosecutors said. He wired at least $515,231 (P23 million) of the money to relatives in the Philippines to purchase property, authorities said.

Rodis leaned on a cane and showed no emotion before, during or after the hearing.

“I wanted to hear Rodney Rodis admit his guilt,” said William Hynes, who attends St. Jude. “And I wanted to see justice done.”

Rob Wagner, Rodis’ public defender, declined to comment.

According to court records, Rodis used the funds for his family, which included a spouse and three biological children. Rodis had concealed his family by living about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the churches.

Authorities said Rodis established bank accounts and a post office box where he directed parishioners to mail contributions. Then he transferred the checks to his personal account, prosecutors said.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond has said Rodis embezzled more than $600,000 from the central Virginia churches, where he was pastor from 1993 until he retired in May 2006 because of health problems. A plea agreement filed Friday said the diocese lost at least $400,000 (P16 million). Rodis has agreed to pay at least that much to the diocese.

Diocese lawyer William Etherington would not comment.

A spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, which serves most of the state of Virginia, said Rodis was ordained a priest in the Order of St. Camillus in the Philippines in 1986.

He arrived in 1991 to work for the diocese and was assigned as pastor of St. Jude church and Immaculate Conception church in central Virginia, the two Louisa county churches he is alleged to have embezzled the money from during a five-year period starting in September 2001.

The disappearance of church funds came to light when a parishioner who had made a $1,000 donation in 2006 asked for a receipt for tax purposes.

When the money could not be found an investigation was launched and authorities discovered that Rodis was living with a spouse, Joyce Flores Sillador-Rodis, and three daughters in Spotsylvania, about 50 miles from where he preached and celebrated mass.

Police seized from Rodis’ home bank records and other items, including a receipt dated May 24, 2006 from Lucky Money Inc., a service for wiring money to the Philippines, according to court documents.

On ordination Catholic priests generally profess public vows of celibacy, poverty and obedience.

Since his arrest church authorities have suspended Rodis from celebrating mass or performing other priestly duties.

He has been in jail since May after his $25,000 bond was revoked for violating a condition of his release by traveling outside Virginia. – With AP