Priest arrested for allegedly spending $40,000 in church funds on Candy Crush game

In bizarre news coming from the USA, according to the The Philadelphia Enquirer A Catholic priest has been arrested and officially charged with stealing more than $40,000 in church funds, allegedly to fuel his smartphone gaming habits.

The priest served at St. Thomas More Church in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, before his alleged crimes were discovered in 2022 and led to his arrest on suspicion of using the parish credit card to rack up more than $40,000 in expenses.

The priest was removed from his position and on April 25th the 51-year-old former cleric was officially charged with theft and other related crimes.

According to the The Philadelphia Enquirer the money was spent on purchases in mobile games candy Crush It is Mario Kart Tour.

The investigation began in 2019 when an audit of the church’s accounts detected “an astronomical amount of Apple transactions” linked to the parish’s credit card.

In his defense, the priest claimed that he did not make the purchases intentionally and that accidental spending on candy Crush and other games came from a lack of detailed guidance.

Detectives revealed that he was “disappointed that it had gotten to this point” and “had no excuse except that he wasn’t paying attention and he should have been.”

The priest used $10,000 of his own money to pay off some of his credit card debt. Since he was arrested, he has also paid another $8,000 to the church in the form of a check and an apology.