Source: Chicago Tribune By John Kass, Contact Reporter If you stole $100,000 from a church, a reasonable person would expect that you’d get some jail time for your crimes. If a poor kid was charged with stealing a fraction of that much cash from a sandwich shop, chances are that jail would be waiting. But a Wisconsin priest stealing from a church trust, a priest with a fondness for luxury goods and fine restaurants, a priest with a powerful ally in the Chicago Greek Orthodox church hierarchy? Well, that’s a different story, because that’s no poor kid. That’s a holy man with…
Browsing: Rev. James Dokos
Source: Chicago Tribune by John Keilman Chicago Tribune A Greek Orthodox priest charged with stealing more than $110,000 from a church trust fund has reached a tentative plea deal with prosecutors, authorities said Wednesday. The Rev. James Dokos, who lives in Chicago, is accused of taking the money from a $1.2 million fund he controlled at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Milwaukee and spending it on himself, family members and other church officials. The Milwaukee County district attorney’s office charged Dokos with theft in 2014, two years after he had left Annunciation to become head of Sts. Peter and Paul Greek…
Source: Chicago Tribune By Alexandra Chachkevitch, Tribune reporter A Glenview Greek Orthodox priest who faces a felony theft charge made his first court appearance this afternoon after missing two previously scheduled hearings. The Rev. James Dokos, 62, stood before a court commissioner in a Milwaukee County courtroom during the brief hearing, where his bond was set at $5,000. Because it’s a personal recognizance bond, he was not required to post any money to be released. Wearing a black suit with a clerical collar and smiling as he entered the courtroom, Dokos did not speak during the hearing, and no mention was…
Source: The National Herald CHICAGO, IL – The District Attorney’s office of the State of Wisconsin plans to indict Rev. James Dokos, priest of the Sts. Peter and Paul parish in Glenview, IL for theft (embezzlement). The charges follow a yearlong investigation of the Trust of an elderly parishioner who appointed Dokos as trustee. If convicted, Dokos may have to pay a fine up to $25,000 and face up to 10 years in prison. TNH reported last August that the whole issue started in 2008 Margaret Franczak, a parishioner at the Annunciation Church in Milwaukee, WI shortly before her passing…
Source: The Chicago Tribune Documents detail spending from fund entrusted to priest; Milwaukee officials investigating By Alexandra Chachkevitch and Lisa Black, Chicago Tribune reporters Even after retiring to Florida, Ervin and Margaret Franczak stayed in regular contact with their longtime priest back in Milwaukee. Especially after Ervin died in 2001, the Rev. James Dokos looked after Margaret, visiting her on occasion and sending poinsettias at Christmas, friends said. Records show she even updated her will to leave Dokos her condo and her car — part of a charitable trust the couple established whose value topped more than $1.2 million. Documents…
Source: Chicago Tribune By Lisa Black and Alexandra Chachkevitch, Chicago Tribune reporters A request by a Glenview church to suspend its priest until the conclusion of a criminal investigation that involves him has prompted a sharp rebuke from the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church in Chicago, who then ordered the removal of the parish council president who made the request. James Gottreich, council president at Sts. Peter and Paul Church, wrote last week to Metropolitan Iakovos, the leader of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago, asking that the Glenview church’s pastor, the Rev. James Dokos, be placed on leave until the out-of-state…