By Daniel Payne
CNA Staff, Oct 18, 2025 /
14:15 pm
Officials in New Jersey have charged a former parish financial director with the theft of more than half a million dollars in church funds.
Joseph Manzi has been charged with second-degree theft by unlawful taking after he allegedly stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from St. Leo the Great Parish in Lincroft.
Manzi was the subject of an August lawsuit by the parish in which he was alleged to have “systematically, secretly, and dishonestly utilized parish funds for his own personal benefit.” The civil suit claimed he had stolen upwards of $1.5 million.
In an Oct. 17 press release, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s office said Manzi had been officially criminally charged with the theft. Platkin in the release said Manzi used the funds “not to feed his family or for some kind of emergency, but to live a more lavish lifestyle.”
Manzi stopped working at the Lincroft parish in June of this year, the office said. Afterwards, church staff reviewed credit card statements and found “numerous unauthorized charges that were determined to allegedly be for Manzi’s personal benefit.”
The state alleged that Manzi used stolen funds for “event vendors, vehicle repairs, financing, and purchases, including a Cadillac SUV,” as well as purchases such as luxury clothing, sports event tickets and “chartered fishing trips.”
Manzi is facing up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $150,000.
It was not immediately clear why the prosecutor’s office charged Manzi with about $1 million less in theft than the August civil suit alleged. The attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Oct. 18 seeking clarification on the figures.
On its website, the St. Leo parish said the controversy “will not prevent Saint Leo the Great Parish from working every day to live our mission – to serve Parishioners and the community in God’s name with the greatest of love and compassion.”
“We ask you all to stand together in our shared faith and to pray for a swift and just conclusion to this troubling chapter,” the parish said.
Daniel Payne is a senior editor at Catholic News Agency. He previously worked at the College Fix and Just the News. He lives in Virginia with his family.
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