Fraud investigation targets priest’s alleged $72,000 in cash requests
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Police in southeastern Minnesota have opened a fraud investigation after a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Winona-Rochester allegedly requested tens of thousands of dollars from parishioners.
In a search warrant affidavit seeking bank account records for Rev. Prince Amala Jesuraja Jebamalia Selvaraj, Winona police officer Dan Metcalf writes that a diocesan attorney provided a spreadsheet detailing $71,950 in gifts and loans given to Selvaraj “for fraudulent reasons.”
Rev. William Thompson, the diocesan vicar general, says in a statement that Selvaraj, 43, who served at St. Felix in Wabasha and St. Agnes in Kellogg, resigned as pastor on Sept. 1 at the request of church leaders and “returned to India for personal reasons” on July 30.
Thompson says the diocese became aware of Selvaraj’s gift requests in May and asked him to stop asking for cash.
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“When it was discovered that Fr. Prince had subsequently requested money from another parishioner, his resignation was requested,” Thompson adds.
According to Metcalf’s affidavit, a 61-year-old woman said Selvaraj asked her for $5,500 to pay off a loan for his mother’s surgery. Metcalf writes he also spoke with the son of another parishioner, who reported that his mother gave Selvaraj a check for $2,365 after the priest allegedly said he needed the money to pay his Minnesota taxes.
Metcalf also notes the diocese learned Selvaraj allegedly received $19,000 from a family in Wisconsin when he was working as a priest there.
Thompson, the vicar general, adds that “no parish funds were affected” and church officials are working with law enforcement and have notified leaders of Selvaraj’s diocese in India about the investigation.
Prosecutors in Minnesota have not filed criminal charges against Selvaraj.