Catholic missionary group rebounds with embezzlement settlement

Two former employees of a Catholic missionary group charged with embezzling from the nonprofit have agreed to an $869,000 civil settlement.

The settlement came after the Lay Mission-Helpers Assn. sued Charles T. Sebesta, its former director of development, and his assistant, Christine Lynn Rowe, in an effort to recover the nearly $180,000 they were charged with embezzling.

Sebesta and Rowe were arrested in May and charged with grand theft. According to the lawsuit, the pair used a bank account set up in the name of Sebesta’s son, as well as fake e-mail accounts and invoices, to divert approximately $177,942 to themselves.

They have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

“This settlement will enable Lay Mission-Helpers to continue to bless lives as they go about their mission to help the under-served throughout the world,� said Steven M. Garber, the attorney who represented the nonprofit.

Garber said the organization was able to obtain a temporary restraining order seizing control of real property owned by one of the defendants, which was, at the time, listed for sale for close to $3 million.

“It was just a matter of time before the defendants agreed to the terms of the settlement,� he added.

According to the suit, Sebesta was hired as director of development in 2013 to run the fundraising activities, including its annual giving, endowment and donor cultivation.

Twitter: @lacrimes