The Venerable Noah Njegovan, Executive Archdeacon of the Diocese of Brandon, has been charged with fraud for running up over $190,000 in personal expenses on a church credit card.
The spending occurred over a two and a half year period, an average of $76,000 per year in disappearing funds. This surely brings into question the diligence of the diocesan auditors and overall leadership; how can you not notice the evaporation of $76,000 per year?
Here is the article:
A priest — the son of a Brandon bishop — is accused of fraud based on an allegation that more than $190,000 in personal expenses were charged to a church credit card.
The accused appeared in court for the first time on Monday, but Father Shane Bengry said that members of the Anglican Diocese of Brandon had already been notified of the accusations.
“We wanted to be as transparent as possible to our congregations … we tried to keep people abreast of what was going on,” said Bengry, who is chairman of the communication committee for the diocese.
Noah James Bernard Njegovan, 30, is charged with fraud over $5,000.
He made his first appearance in Brandon court on Monday, and his next court date is set for May 9.
Njegovan is the son of Brandon Bishop Jim Njegovan.
Noah Njegovan was executive archdeacon and assistant to his father at the time of the alleged offence.
He worked out of the synod office on the 300-block of 13th Street.
Njegovan, an Anglican Church of Canada priest, has had his licence to officiate suspended pending the outcome of his court case. That means he presently can’t preside over church functions.
The allegations against him haven’t been proven in court.
Court documents allege that the Anglican Diocese of Brandon was defrauded when a business card was used for personal affairs between March 12, 2010, and Sept. 12, 2012.
Bengry said that a precise figure for the alleged fraud has yet to be calculated, but he said it’s clearly more than $190,000. Another estimate puts the total around $198,000.
The money represents funds gathered by diocese members through their parishes to keep the diocese running, Bengry said.
The Anglican Diocese of Brandon stretches along the length of Manitoba, along its western boundary and contains more than 50 congregations.
Losing that money has led the diocese to liquidate some of its assets to allow its work to continue.
“We’re not a wealthy diocese,” Bengry said.
An insurance claim has been filed for a significant portion of the loss, but “nowhere near” the full amount.
Bengry said that financial irregularities came to light during a regular, albeit delayed, audit performed after an employee resigned in August.
The employee left of his own choosing and wasn’t fired, Bengry said. He’d held his dual positions with the diocese for about three years.
It was only later, once the replacement employee completed the audit, that the financial irregularities were found and city police were notified in mid-January.
Noah Njegovan, who currently has a Rosenort address, was arrested in February and then released pending Monday’s court date.
Congregation members were initially notified of the financial irregularities on Dec. 2, Bengry said. A letter was read from the pulpit of each Anglican church within the diocese.
Members were later provided with an update on the investigation which included the dollar estimate for the fraud. They were also told of the charge against Noah Njegovan and that he was to appear in court.
Bengry said that Bishop Njegovan, due to his relationship with the accused, kept himself out of the matter.
Fraud allegations aren’t exclusive to the church, Bengry noted.
“This happens in all sorts of organizations … people do the best they can and yet people do fail for a variety of reasons,” he said.
However, in light of the allegations, the diocese has put new financial rules in place to prevent fraud.
For example, in this particular case it’s alleged that online transfers allowed the fraud to continue undetected.
Bengry said there are now strategies in place to better follow such transfers and allow the diocese executive to approve expenses.
I’m trying to stifle a sense of schadenfreude
Mike Skliros suggested I apply for the job when it came up. If nothing more than to see Jim’s reaction at getting the application. He would not have appreciated a picture of Bishop Malcolm on my desk.
The Diocese Financial Statement is here (hard to find). The 2008 income is almost non-existent, but rebounded. If this were a business it would be in debtors court.
A search of Queen’s Bench records revealed what may amount to some of the motivation for this act.
From an old Mustard Seed 2009
I’m a bit disappointed in Noah, but he has to deal with it, but Jim’s head-in-the-sand response is troubling.
If the allegation turns out to be true later in court, it will be a sad day for the Diocese of Brandon. What non-believers see in believers is what they will believe about God. It is very important for believers to live a life according to the will of God.
From those in the Diocese that I keep in contact with there is a quiet anger-disappointment that this happened. With the Cathedral running a constant deficit and undetermined retirement of the Dean what is the future? This all happened under the Bishop’s nose and I know questions were circulated about the lack of a routine audit.
I would suspect that outside of insurance the Diocese will not be reimbursed.
Sell the Synod office and move into Robin’s office, that’s worth about $200K
It would appear that whoever was paying for the credit card hadn’t checked to see if the expenses were authorised.
Since the money was spent over a lengthy period of time, the monthly cost would have been about $6250.
Even so, one would have thought that receipts and other documentation would have been requested from the beginning.
Speculators will speculate. Manufacturers will manufacture. We don’t know the facts. Don’t throw stones. Read your Bible instead.
Yeah because, knowing the bible did him a lot of good, didnt it?
Read your Bible? Did Noah read the 8th Commandment? I remember when reading those was part of the service. I have experience in law enforcement. The charges, arrest and court appearance are not done on a whim or hint of a rumor.
Civil references deleted
My point being that no one here knows the facts yet so we should not speculate as some here are already. Yet some just throw stones. Mature.
Tim, I don’t see how reporting the fact that there were sufficient grounds to make an arrest and require a court hearing is speculation. This has been the result of an on-going investigation by what we must assume are competent investigators.
The fact is that a large sum of money has gone missing and criminal charges have been laid. A trial if necessary explicit details will emerge, however, it seems there is substantial evidence that Noah is culpable.
And one should not make an assumption that no one here knows the details, you might be surprised.
My prayers go out for this fellow, and as someone has said here, we don’t know the circumstances; the how, and the why. I feel for him, and his father, and the people of the diocese who have been let down, and the Body of Christ which has been taken from.
Forgiveness with repentance, yes, but there must be consequences.
A Professor and successful entrepreneur told our Business class:
“Never hire your relatives, they’ll rob ya blind!”
Guilty. 700 dollar keg dinners and attempting to keep up with the boys club jack offs in Brandon for the past 2 years Caught up with ya big guy.
We must wait for the verdict. We live in Canada, not China. We must continue to pray for one another. God will forgive those who truly repent of their sins. Don’t forget the fact that we are all sinners. Of course, there will be consequences of one’s actions. We are all responsible for our own actions. Christian believers are the living epistles, probably the only bible non-believers will care to read daily. We must be careful with our attitudes, words and actions.