Parish mgr charged in 2nd embezzlement

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A former Wyoming parish manager already charged with embezzling from St. John Vianney School and Parish has been charged with embezzling from another Grand Rapids-area Catholic organization.

James Brian Kulfan was arraigned Monday with one count of felony embezzlement of between $1,000 and $20,000 from a nonprofit.

A probable cause affidavit in the case says Kulfan took $19,636.34 from DYMO Ministries, a Catholic youth organization based in Grand Rapids.

Kulfan worked with DYMO Ministries between June 2005 and December 2011. He had access to the organization's bank accounts, the affidavit says, and deposited some of the group's money into a personal account.

Police said that when questioned, Kulfan admitted to embezzling the money from DYMO Ministries to pay off the money he took from St. John Vianney School and Parish in Wyoming.

Kulfan also faces embezzlement charges for allegedly taking money from St. John Vianney, where he was a business manager. In that case, he is accused of writing checks to himself to the tune of $134,545.

St. John Vianney officials fired Kulfan in December 2011.

If convicted of the first embezzlement charge alone, he could spend 20 years in prison.

Kulfan's bond in the first case was $10,000. Bond in the latest embezzlement case was set at $15,000.

A preliminary exam in the latest case is scheduled for April 20.