A TD Bank employee tampered with and “manually mishandled” donations that were sent to two fund-raising appeals with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, according to a letter sent to parishioners on Thursday.
Monsignor Daniel J. Kutys announced that a TD Bank employee tampered with direct mail and in-pew donations meant for the annual Catholic Charities Appeal and the annual Seminary Appeal, which utilize separate and designated lock boxes through a TD Bank facility for processing.
“Rather, an individual, who is now a former employee of the bank, was manually tampering with donations mailed to the lock box,” Monsignor Kutys wrote. “This individual has been arrested and faces criminal charges.”
A spokesman for the Archdiocese told NBC10 the investigation began after several donors reported their donations had not cleared their bank accounts after a lengthy amount of time had passed. The Archdiocese and Catholic Foundation of Greater Philadelphia shared the reports with TD Bank which launched an internal review at its lock box facility leading to the discovery of the misappropriation of donations. Police were then contacted which led to an arrest. The tampering occurred between December, 2016 and July, 2017, according to the spokesperson.
“Currently, we are working to analyze the level of financial exposure in order to determine restitution for these campaigns,” Monsignor Kutys wrote. “It is important to note that this issue could not have been prevented by the Archdiocese, CCA, SA, or the Catholic Foundation of Greater Philadelphia (CFGP), which administers these appeals.”
Neither police nor TD Bank have released the name of the suspect. Officials don’t believe any of the personal information of the donors was compromised, according to Monsignor Kutys.
“At TD Bank, we consider the safety and security of our customers our top priority,” a spokesperson for TD Bank wrote to NBC10. “After an internal investigation, we took decisive action for our customer, and determined that, to the best of our knowledge, all personal information stayed within the Bank and was not compromised. We continue to work closely with the Archdiocese to address any remaining concerns.”
The Archdiocese is currently working with TD Bank to determine the extent of the tampering.
The Archdiocese says they don't believe donors who received an acknowledgment letter from the appeal they donated to and had their donation processed were impacted. They also don't believe donors who made an online donation were impacted.
Officials do say however that those who mailed actual cash to the appeals and never received a thank your or acknowledgment letter may have been impacted. They also recommend that donors who paid by check or credit card and never had the check cleared or card charged contact their financial institution immediately.
If you made a donation and are concerned that it was tampered with, please call 1-866-812-8700.
