Demand alleges that Catholic Charisies accountant robbed millions using invoices and credit cards

A lawsuit filed in Wisconsin (United States) alleges that an employee of a subsidiary of Catholic Charities in that state stole millions of dollars as part of a scheme of years that involved fraud with credit cards and false invoices.

Catholic Charisies of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee said in the lawsuit, presented earlier this month at a Wisconsin circuit courtthat former employee Brandi Ellis “abused her authority and embezzled millions of dollars” while working various financial positions within the organization.

Ellis allegedly worked as an accountant, accounting manager and, finally, as a financial manager in the beneficial organization, with a period of employment that covers from February 2014 to May 2024.

The demand alleges that Ellis paid “false invoices that apparently reflected works and/or services completed or provided by suppliers”, but that in reality they channeled money to suppliers with “personal or professional ties” with Ellis.

The accountant supposedly also used corporate credit cards to make personal purchases.

Each of the schemes added “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” according to demand.

In addition to demanding its ex -councilor, the beneficial organization is also demanding to the Financial Services signing Baker Tilly, based in Madison, Wisconsin, for supposedly not identifying fraudulent activity as part of the audit services that provided the Catholic organization.

The lawsuit argues that the firm must have recognized “goods and services that reasonably could not support the charity mission of the plaintiff”, including “Amazon Prime video rentals, Trips in Uber, purchases in Ticketmaster, (Y) purchases in Casinos del MGM Grand”.

The accounting group “did not clearly recognize fraudulent purchase activities”, alleges the demand, and was also based on “internal documents generated by … Brandi Ellis” instead of verified data from third parties independently.

The demand seeks compensation of both Ellis and the accounting firm.

Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in CNA.