Church scam details reveal a life of luxury
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August N. Santillo lived a lavish lifestyle, one filled with diamonds and gold, hot clothes and cold cash, designer watches and luxury cars, state police reported.
The New Castle man's good fortune wasn't due to birth or honest work, police said. It resulted from a complex scheme in which he siphoned $339,987 over the last seven years from St. Vitus Parish in New Castle, where he had been entrusted to coordinate fundraising.
He secured 25 percent of the theft total by using Giant Eagle gift cards stolen from the church, according to police. And to add insult to injury, he used his Giant Eagle Advantage Card to earn nearly $4,000 in Fuelperks from cashing in those stolen gift cards, police said.
Mr. Santillo, who is accused of stealing $255,081 in cash and Giant Eagle gift cards worth $84,906, faces a preliminary hearing Thursday at 10:30 a.m. in Lawrence County Central Court. He is charged with theft by unlawful taking, theft by failure to make required disposition of funds and theft by deception.
More charges -- and more arrests -- are pending, state police said.
Mr. Santillo, 50, was named in May 2001 as coordinator of the parish's fundraising program in which Giant Eagle gift cards are purchased at a discount in bulk and sold at face value to the public. He was responsible for distributing the gift cards for sale and making deposits of the funds collected. Instead, he stole cards and cash for his own use, police said.
Under the community-service program, which Giant Eagle has operated for about 20 years, nonprofit groups can earn up to 5 percent discounts on the cards they purchase in bulk, said Dick Roberts, Giant Eagle spokesman. He said hundreds of nonprofits in the area participate in the program.
Many parishes do so, primarily as fundraising vehicles for their schools, said the Rev. Ronald Lengwin, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. There have been some financial irregularities in the operation of the program in a few other parishes, he said, but never as extensive as is alleged at St. Vitus.
Police said Mr. Santillo's scheme began to unravel in May, when a Giant Eagle fraud investigator contacted the church to report the unusual activity of one person, Mr. Santillo, using a large amount of the gift cards from the church's inventory.
According to police, Mr. Santillo used Giant Eagle gift cards to purchase $8,000 in Kay Jewelers gift cards -- 80 $100 cards -- at Giant Eagle stores on May 2, 3, 13 and 16.
Between April 2007 and last July, police said, Mr. Santillo used illegally obtained Giant Eagle gift cards at various Giant Eagle stores to purchase $84,906 in gift cards for Kay Jewelers, the Gap, Visa and American Express, among others.
Upon being contacted by Giant Eagle, the parish's pastor notified the diocese of the problem and requested it perform an audit, Father Lengwin said.
The audit was completed shortly before September and Mr. Santillo was removed from his position "a few months ago," Father Lengwin said.
Additionally, Mr. Santillo's wife, Kimberly Santillo, was placed on unpaid administrative leave from her position as St. Vitus Parish secretary and bookkeeper, he said.
No one answered the telephone at the couple's home yesterday.
Police said Mr. Santillo told them he had access to the parish safe when his wife was at work and he would take checks and money that were meant to be deposited in various St. Vitus bank accounts.
Instead, police said, Mr. Santillo would deposit the checks into the fundraising account he managed. He then would convert funds from that account into gift cards he would subsequently use for his personal purchases, police reported.
Cash taken from the safe, which came from various donations or offertory gifts, and money Mr. Santillo received from parishioners who legitimately bought Giant Eagle gift cards was deposited into his and his wife's personal bank accounts, police said.
From 2002 to April 2008, a total of $192,959 was deposited into an account for which Mr. Santillo was the primary user, according to an affidavit supporting his arrest.
During that same period, a total of $62,122 was deposited into a bank account for which Mrs. Santillo was the primary user, police said.
The amount deposited into both accounts was $255,081, according to police.
Father Lengwin said the best way to assure parishioners their donations to parishes will not be misused "is that most everything will be covered by insurance and by demonstrating to them that this will not happen again as far as is humanly possible."
"We want to demonstrate that there are policies and procedures to be followed and if someone finds a way to work around them, we'll find a way to close that loophole."
First Published January 24, 2009 12:00 am
