OLATHE, Kan. — Court documents released Friday say the 68-year-old Gardner priest charged with stealing thousands of dollars from his parish lost more than $67,000 at three different casinos over a 7-month period.
Joseph Patrick Cramer was charged in May with two counts of computer crime, and one count of theft in the amount of between $25,000 and $100,000.
Cramer suspended in September 2017 after the KCK Archdiocese received information about what they called “financial irregularities” at Divine Mercy Parish, where he served as pastor.
Investigators found that Cramer began a scheme dating back to November 2015 in which he wrote checks to himself from the church accounts, and recorded them in the church financial records as legitimate expenses, court documents say.
A joint investigation by the District Attorney’s Office and the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office discovered 26 fraudulent checks, resulting in approximately $42,836.50 in losses to Divine Mercy.
Examples include a check for $510 made payable to “Fr. Joseph Cramer” and signed by Cramer, but was recorded in the church financial records as a payment to United Office Products “for new desk.” Records from United Office Products show no such payment.
Another check drawn from the Divine Mercy Parish was made payable to “Fr. Joseph Cramer” and signed by Cramer, in the amount of $467, was recorded in the church ledger as an expense to USA Mechanincal for “air con. repair.”
Investigators obtained records from Argosy Casino, Ameristar Casino, and Harrah’s Casino. Between November 2015 and May 2016, Cramer’s losses totaled approximately $67,064.66, according to court documents.