Woman Embezzled $600K Spanning 19 Years from Indianapolis Parish

Authorities have sentenced a parish business manager for embezzling almost $600,000 and using it to gamble and spend month-long vacations in Florida.

Marie Carson, third from the right, at a staff celebration in 2019 marking Carson’s 30th anniversary working at Saint Matthew Catholic Church and School / Facebook

On February 14, U.S. District Court Judge Chief Tanya Walton Pratt sentenced Marie Carson, 72, of Indianapolis, Indiana, to two years in federal prison for wire fraud.

Court documents said that from 2008 to 2021 Carson illegally transferred $573,836.59 from the business accounts of St. Matthew Catholic Church and School to her personal bank accounts.

The actual loss was higher as Carson admitted in December to stealing as early as 2004. The investigation only covered 13 years due to limited available bank and church records.

For 33 years, Carson worked for St. Matthew parish and became the sole staff member managing St. Matthew’s finances. As a business manager for the parish, she was responsible for processing checks received from parishioners and conducting financial transactions on behalf of the church and school.

The FBI began investigating Carson in November of 2021 while she was on leave. Carson’s temporary replacement noticed suspicious transfers from the parish’s account to an external bank account.

Access to MinistryWatch content is free.  However, we hope you will support our work with your prayers and financial gifts.  To make a donation, click here.

After further investigation, the church discovered over $289,000 in transfers to multiple accounts, including a phantom account created in the church’s name.

Carson was able to retrieve her personal, church, and school accounts all on the Chase Bank website.

The sentencing memorandum said Carson gained confidence over time that the church and school authorities were unlikely to discover her scheme, and thus continued to steal for years.

“In further effort to succeed, Carson kept the amount of each transaction no more than a few thousand dollars and made false entries into the database utilized by The Church and School to track payments from parishioners in a way to hide the fraudulent transfers of funds to her,” it said.

In the report, Carson claimed she needed money to pay for her late husband’s medical expenses. Yet, they did not have medical expenses for most of the period. The memorandum added, “In fact, a significant amount of money was used by Carson and her husband for casino gambling and they took a month-long trip to Florida every year.”

In addition to two years serving in federal prison, Judge Pratt ordered a two-year additional probationary period for Carson following her release.

She must also pay $573,836.59 in restitution—the entire estimated amount she stole from 2008 to 2021.

$100,000 of the restitution was due immediately Tuesday following the sentencing to the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. Judge Pratt further ordered Carson to pay $250,000 of the restitution total from her IRA account immediately or as soon as possible.

While in prison, payments are processed through an inmate responsibility program. Upon her release, Carson must pay at least 10% of her gross monthly income toward any remaining unpaid restitution balance.

In November, a letter on the church’s website said:

“It is with a heavy heart that I write to inform you more fully of the financial irregularities discovered and reported to you last December. As you recall, at that time, a full report was made to the civil authorities and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. We have cooperated fully with the FBI and were not able to share any additional information while their investigation was in process.

“The FBI has now completed their investigation. As a result, Marie Carson, our former business manager, has signed an agreement in which she pleaded guilty to wire fraud for illegally transferring funds from parish accounts in excess of $500,000 into her personal bank account. This transfer of funds occurred for more than a decade. Ms. Carson appeared in Federal Court on Wednesday, November 9.

“Upon discovery of the theft, we enacted new internal accounting controls to provide assurance that all funds are safeguarded. We carry fidelity insurance to cover fraud and theft losses and we have received payment to cover the documented loss. It is with deep sadness to report that these serious events have occurred. I humbly ask for your prayers for our parish and those involved as we move forward.”