There have been loads of church scandals over the many years, however this may be the very first one which entails Sweet Crush. By way of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Reverend Lawrence Kozak was arrested in Pottstown, Pennsylvania on April 25 and charged with stealing over $40,000 in funds from his former parish, St. Thomas Extra Church. In accordance with the report, Kozak’s vice of alternative was cell gaming, particularly Sweet Crush and Mario Kart.
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia eliminated Kozak from his parish in November 2022 after an inner investigation decided that he spent “an astronomical quantity of Apple transactions” on the church’s bank card. The fees span from September 2019 to July 2022. Kozak can be mentioned to have used church funds to purchase presents for his goddaughter.
Kozak reportedly informed investigators in 2022 that the cash was used to “energy up” and provides him a bonus whereas taking part in his cell video games. Kozak added that he was “searching for counseling for his dependancy,” and he denied deliberately utilizing church funds for his video games. As an alternative, Kozak says that the costs to the church’s bank cards occurred as a result of they have been already linked to his cellular phone.
The Philadelphia Inquirer states that monetary data present that Kozak repaid $10,000 to the parish bank card account from his private funds. The story additionally says that Kozak mailed an $8,000 verify to his former parish after he had been faraway from his put up. Together with the verify, Kozak wrote a be aware of apology to his successor at St. Thomas Extra, and he talked about his makes an attempt to repay the church.
Kozak is at present free on bail, and his lawyer informed The Philadelphia Inquirer that “he was reviewing the costs and deliberate to contact prosecutors in regards to the case within the coming days.”
