CONCORD, N.H. - The treasurer of a Portsmouth church pleaded guilty to charges he stole $1.6 million from the church and hid the thefts by inflating values of assets, The Associated Press reported.
Ross Perry, 43, left only $100 in the coffers of the First Church of Christ Scientist, according to prosecutors. Perry pleaded guilty to funneling the money to himself and his Seabrook water treatment company, Compliance Systems, or its creditors between 1996 and 2002.
Perry also pleaded guilty to federal fraud and income tax evasion charges. He faces up to 41 years in prison and more than $2 million in fines, the AP reported. He will be sentenced July 21.
Prosecutors said he hid the theft by overstating values of church investments and kept the accounts balanced by liquidating church securities and mutual funds.
Perry's pleas came in U.S. District Court, where he admitted to evading $568,000 in personal federal income taxes and to failing to pay $486,000 for his company in payroll, Social Security and Medicare taxes.
