Florida Church Bookkeeper Embezzles Nearly $900,000 for Lavish Purchases, Including Boat and Designer Clothes

Heather Darrey, who used to work as a bookkeeper for the Christ the King Catholic Church in Tampa, Florida, got 27 months in federal jail after admitting she stole almost $900,000 from the church. When the shocking case was made public by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida on November 14, it shocked everyone in the church.

A trusted worker who stole money

Darrey was 45 years old and had worked at the church for 25 years. He was well-known among the people who went there. Father Len Plazewski says that people were shocked when they heard that she had been stolen.

“Shock was the main response,” Plazewski said. “It shocked me that it happened and that someone did it.”Given her long history with the church and her reputation for being nice, Darrey’s acts came as a surprise.

Darrey was in charge of the church’s records and finances, so she had full access to the financial software. She used this to carry out her plan. Investigators found that she started committing fraud in October 2023, writing real checks for vendors but never sending them. Instead, she threw away the old checks and made new ones with the same amounts due to herself.

How the Plan to Steal Money Worked

The plan was carefully put together to avoid being caught. Darrey would mark the checks as sent to the vendors in the church’s financial system. This would hide her theft for a few months. But finally, the church’s finance department found some strange differences in the books and reported the suspicious activity.

When asked about it in March, Darrey revealed that she had stolen some money but tried to downplay how much she had taken. The full investigation, on the other hand, showed how bad the theft was: $875,323.19 had been taken from the church’s funds.

Spending a lot of money on personal things with stolen money

Federal agents explained how Darrey lived a luxury life with the stolen money. People used the money to pay their mortgage, loans for cars and boats, credit card fees, and other personal costs, such as

• Shopping sprees and expensive clothes
• Going to restaurants and taking fancy trips
• Concert tickets and fun things to do

These purchases were very different from what a church worker normally spends their money on, which raised even more doubts when the differences were found.

Darrey’s Attempt to Stay Out of Trouble with the Law

When asked about what she knew about the problems, Darrey admitted what she did but asked the church not to call the police. Even though she begged them not to, the church reported what happened, which led to a federal probe and charges.

Father Plazewski said, “I don’t think anyone is happy, but there are consequences for breaking the law and breaking trust.” “It’s all very sad.”

After Darrey was fired, the court case moved quickly through the system. As part of the plan to steal money, she pleaded guilty to wire fraud on June 6.

What happened in court and the sentence

Darrey was given a harsh term of 27 months in federal prison, which reflects how bad her crime was. This harsh sentence is a stark warning of what happens when people use money wrongly, especially when it involves charities. Darrey will likely have to go through a time of supervised release and may have to pay the church money to make up for what she did.

Effects on the Church Neighborhood

The uproar over theft has changed Christ the King Catholic Church for good. Many parishioners have lost faith in Darrey because they trusted him as a staff member at the church. The church is now looking at how it oversees finances to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.

Father Plazewski’s words show how much this case has hurt the church community emotionally. Even though justice was done, the feeling of loss and betrayal is still there because Darrey was more than just an employee; he was a familiar face who had worked at the church for decades.

What We’ve Learned and How to Move Forward

The Heather Darrey case shows how important strong financial oversight is, even in churches and other valued community groups. It’s also a warning about what could happen if someone uses their position to get something for themselves. Now, the Christ the King Catholic Church’s main goal is to rebuild trust and make financial safety greater.

As Darrey starts her time in prison, the church wants to move on from this tough time by focusing on healing and being more careful with its money.

Stay tuned for more information about this case and the steps the church is taking to stop it from happening again.