A Catholic priest from Pottstown, Pennsylvania was arrested for spending $40,000 from his church's funds on Candy Crush and other mobile games.
While there have been many church scandals over the last few decades, this might be the first time that an incident includes the massively popular Candy Crush. The suspect in question is Reverend Lawrence Kozak who was arrested on Apr. 25, 2024.
Priest Spent $40K on Candy Crush and Other Mobile Games
(Photo : King / Screenshot taken from official website)
Local law enforcement authorities charged the Pennsylvania priest with stealing more than $40,000 in funds from his former parish, St. Thomas More Church. Reports noted that Kozak's vice of choice was mobile gaming, particularly Candy Crush and Mario Kart.
In November 2022, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia removed Kozak from his parish following an internal investigation that determined he spent "an astronomical amount of Apple transactions" on the church's credit card.
The charges against the Pennsylvania priest span from September 2019 to July 2022 and he is also said to have used church funds to buy gifts for his goddaughter.
In 2022, Kozak reportedly told investigators that the money was used to "power up" and give him an advantage while playing his mobile games, according to GameSpot.
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The priest also said that he was trying to seek counseling for his addiction to mobile games and had denied that he intentionally used church funds for his games. Kozak instead said that the charges to the church's credit cards happened because they were already linked to his call phone.
A previous report noted that financial records showed Kozak repaid $10,000 to the parish credit card account from his personal funds.
The priest had also mailed an $8,000 check to his former parish after he was removed from his post. On top of the check, he sent a note of apology to his successor at St. Thomas More, adding that he would repay the church.
Free on Bail
The Pennsylvania priest is currently free on bail and his attorney said that "he was reviewing the charges and planned to contact prosecutors about the case in the coming days."
The Pennsylvania State Police's affidavit noted that there were more than 2,000 transactions marked as "gaming" from September 2019 to June 2022.
There were also slot machine apps named in the complaint, including Cash Frenzy, Willy Wonka Vegas Slots, and Wizard of Oz Slot Machine Game.
A review of Kozak's Amazon account also showed that the parish car was used to buy the gifts for his goddaughter, including an Amazon Fire tablet and chemistry set, said CBS News.
Detectives said that Kozak told them he was disappointed that the entire situation had reached this point at all. He added that he had no excuse for what he had done except that he was not paying attention when he should have been.
On the other hand, the business manager of St. Thomas More said that she believes Kozak was aware of using the church's credit card.
She said that she had asked the priest about unexplained credit card purchases on the account's statement and warned him about possible issues, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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