Officials: Woman scams archdiocese for $1M

A frail, white-haired Bronx woman was charged Monday with using her position as a clerk at the Catholic Archdiocese of New York to steal more than $1 million over 7½ years in a  check-fraud scheme.

Anita Collins, 67, who handled accounts payable in the archdiocese's education department, was held on $750,000 bail on grand larceny charges after appearing in Manhattan Supreme Court, where her attorney said she had "fully confessed" to the scam.

Prosecutors said Collins, who lives in a modest home with a cancer-stricken daughter, used her job to write checks to a son for deposit to accounts she controlled, and then changed the archdiocese's records to make it appear that the checks were written to other vendors for legitimate services.

Officials said she cut 468 checks for less than $2,500, the level that would have required approval from a supervisor, and stole in every month except one from July 2004 until the end of 2011, racking up $1,073,058.83.

"She held herself out to be a religious woman, going to church every day, yet behind their backs she would lie and steal," said prosecutor Amy Justiniano.

Collins had two previous convictions, including a 1999 grand larceny charge involving a similar scam at a Bronx temporary employment agency, officials said. She was sentenced to 5 years' probation on that charge, and church officials said they were not doing background checks when she was hired in 2003.

Howard Simmons, Collins' court-appointed attorney, said her Bronx house was filled with an expensive handmade doll collection that might have value, along with paintings, jewelry, stuffed bears and other items, but the money she stole was all gone.

"She seemed like a sweet old lady who was very sad and remorseful about what she did," Simmons told reporters. "It's like a gambler. She started and she couldn't help herself. At least that's the way it seems to me."

Prosecutors said Collins, who made between $35,000 and $50,000 annually during her years with the church, racked up charges of $18,000 at Bloomingdales for furniture, $23,000 at Barneys for clothes, $14,000 at Brooks Brothers and $19,000 at an Irish gift shop.

She was confronted in December by the archdiocese, and admitted stealing $10,000, but no more, prosecutors said. She was fired at that time.

Although the checks were deposited in accounts in the name of Collins and her son, prosecutors said the son is not under suspicion. He lives in Florida, Simmons said.

Joe Zwilling, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said the church believes its losses will be covered by insurance. The church now conducts mandatory background checks, and plans to tighten financial controls.

"Sadly, there will always be individuals who seek to exploit and circumvent whatever system is established," Zwilling said.