Man sentenced for embezzling over $175,000 from VB church

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — 46-year-old Andrew Patrick Landsperger was sentenced to five years for the embezzlement and credit card fraud of a church, the Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney Office stated. He pled guilty to the charges back in July.

While working as an accountant for Galilee Episcopal Church, Landsperger spent around $34,653.72 on Amazon purchases using the church’s credit card, and changed his approved salary, leading to an overpayment of $134,839.52.

He also took money from donations to the church during the collection passed around during mass. The church typically received an average of $450 a week in donations, but had dropped to under $200 per week — an estimated amount lost of around $7,000.

The estimated total loss to the church was around $176,536. The church was able to recover $112,324 through its insurance, but still had an estimated loss of around $64,200.

Landsperger was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $64,199 to Galilee Episcopal Church and $100,000 to the credit card company.

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