Community Corner
New Britain Man Charged With Embezzling $396,000 From Local Church
A former finance committee member at the First Baptist Church in Southington is facing first-degree larceny charges stemming from thefts that occurred between 2004 and 2008, police said.
The state is pursuing embezzlement charges against a New Britain man that police said stole more than $395,000 from a local church over a four-year period.
Southington police said Alan Jonas, 63, had been involved in the theft of money from the First Baptist Church, 581 Meriden Ave., between November 2004 and October 2008 while serving on the finance committee for the church.
Jonas, of 41 Brookside Road in New Britain, was charged with one count of first-degree larceny on Feb. 18 and entered a plea not guilty the same day, according to court records.
A police report said that Jonas had served as chairman of the finance committee for the church and was entrusted with the First Baptist Church endowment fund. The report said he “systematically misdirected monies from the Church’s account into his personal bank account.”
Over the course of a four-year period before the theft was discovered, police said Jonas was able to transfer a total of $396,228.69.
Jonas, who was arrested in two separate first-degree larceny cases stemming from incidents in 2007 in New Britain and a state case from 2009, is currently being held in lieu of $380,000 in court-set bonds.
His attorney, listed as Todd Edgington of the State Public Defender’s Office, could not be reached for comment. Church staff also declined comment.
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