Former housekeeper charged with stealing $173,458 in parish funds

Published: 2004-12-28

PITTSBURGH (CNS) -- A former housekeeper at St. Margaret of Scotland in Green Tree has been charged by the Allegheny County district attorney's office with stealing $173,458 from the parish's weekly collection over a four-year period and using the parish computer to cover up the theft. Amy Caldwell, 35, of Charleroi turned herself in Dec. 17 on the felony theft charge. She was arraigned before a district magistrate in Scott Township and released on her own recognizance. Officials began investigating parish finances after West Virginia state police on March 3, 2004, found two bank deposit bags along U.S. Route 22 near Weirton. Green Tree police were contacted about the bags, which contained checks and collection envelopes from a January 2004 St. Margaret of Scotland collection. The incident was reported to diocesan officials and, as a result, James Stierheim, an audit supervisor for the Diocese of Pittsburgh, audited the parish collections.

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