Pennsylvania priest accused of stealing $41K from church to buy, play cellphone games

SOUTH COVENTRY, Penn. — A Pennsylvania priest has been accused of stealing more than $41,000 from his parish, much of which authorities allege was used to purchase and play cellphone games.

Lawrence Kozak Jr., 51, of Clifton Heights, was arrested Thursday and charged with multiple counts of theft. Prior to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s investigation, Kozak was a priest at St. Thomas More Church in South Coventry Township.

>> Read more trending news

A criminal complaint in the case alleges that Kozak used church funds to pay for “an astronomical amount of Apple transactions” over a three-year span.

Records reviewed by law enforcement showed that Kozak used a parish credit card to pay for nearly 2,200 transactions related to a category of spending identified as “gaming.”

The games Kozak allegedly used the money for included Candy Crush Saga, Mario Kart Tour, Pokémon Go and several slot machine games, the complaint alleges.

The Pennsylvania State Police began investigating Kozak in July 2022 after learning of financial irregularities found in St. Thomas More’s books during a routine audit.

The review determined that Kozak’s Apple ID, which allows a person to pay for purchases via his iPhone, was associated with more than $214,000 in expenses, the document alleges. About $43,000 of those charges were incurred on the parish credit card.

When questioned by police investigators, Kozak explained that both his Apple card and the parish credit card were attached to his Apple ID because of expenses related to work. When gaming, however, he said he would fail to notice when he went beyond the credit left on the Apple card, and that the charges would get “kicked over” to the parish card.

Kozak told investigators he had begun seeing a counselor to deal with his “addictive tendencies,” according to the complaint.

“Kozak expressed feelings of stupidity because he would ‘pay the bottom line’ when it came to his bills,” the document states. “(He) indicated that his father would warn him in reference to this and tell him that he has to look at what he’s paying for.

“Kozak related that he doesn’t do that and that he sees the bottom line and makes a payment.”

The priest said he was “disappointed that he let it get like this, and that there’s no excuse except that he wasn’t paying attention and should have been.”

When asked if he was aware he was improperly using the parish’s credit card, Kozak said he had no memory of ever deliberately doing so. The parish’s business manager disputed that, however, and told detectives that she’d discussed with the priest the need for him to separate his personal expenses and church expenses paid for by the parish card.

The woman also told investigators that Kozak, who opened the church’s mail, would have seen credit card statements that were eight or more pages long because of the number of transactions he had made, the complaint alleges.

In a statement obtained by WPVI in Philadelphia, archdiocese officials said that Kozak has been on administrative leave since November 2022.

“His administrative leave followed a review of Saint Thomas More Parish’s financial activity by the Archdiocesan Office for Parish Services and Support,” the statement reads. “That review resulted in certain expenses and expenditure levels utilizing parish funds being questioned.”

The Archdiocese referred the matter to law enforcement, which ultimately led to the priest’s arrest.

“The Archdiocese and the parish will continue to cooperate with law enforcement as the criminal matter enters its next phase,” church officials said. “Pending the outcome of the criminal prosecution, Father Kozak remains on administrative leave.”

© 2024 Cox Media Group