NEWS STORY: Episcopal church treasurer gets five years for embezzlement

c. 1996 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Ellen F. Cooke, the high-living former treasurer of the Episcopal Church who admitted embezzling more than $1.5 million from the church, was sentenced Wednesday (July 10) to five years in prison. U.S. District Court Judge Maryanne Trump Barry in Newark, N.J., said that Cooke”systematically looted”the denomination. Barry dismissed as”spurious”Cooke’s […]

c. 1996 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Ellen F. Cooke, the high-living former treasurer of the Episcopal Church who admitted embezzling more than $1.5 million from the church, was sentenced Wednesday (July 10) to five years in prison.

U.S. District Court Judge Maryanne Trump Barry in Newark, N.J., said that Cooke”systematically looted”the denomination. Barry dismissed as”spurious”Cooke’s claim that a mental disorder combined with stress led to the embezzlement of what church officials said was more than $2.2 million.


Barry imposed a stiffer sentence than the court guidelines usually suggest.

Cooke, who now resides in Alexandria, Va., but lived in Montclair, N.J., at the time the crime occurred, was ordered to report Aug. 26 to Alderson correctional facility, a women’s prison in West Virginia. Plato Cacheris, Cooke’s lawyer, said he is contemplating an appeal.

In January, Cooke pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $1.5 million from the church and for failing to pay income taxes on more than $300,000. But in a 29-page pre-sentencing memo filed with the court, Cacheris asked for a reduced sentence”due to her diminished capacity.” The memo described Cooke as a”fundamentally good, decent and responsible woman,”but”unfortunately, as a result of a psychiatric disorder, she made a serious mistake. She is deeply contrite and stands ready to prove herself worthy of the court’s and society’s confidence.” In dismissing Cooke’s plea for a reduced sentence, Barry cited a July 3 letter to the court from top officials of the 2.5 million-member denomination, including Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning, which said Cooke’s embezzlement had a devastating financial and psychological impact on the church and greatly harmed its ability to carry out its mission.

Church officials said Cooke was living a”lavish Phariseean lifestyle”at a time the church was economically hard-pressed, laying off national staff and cutting back on mission work.

While the church has”no desire for retribution and the imposition of more hurt on Mrs. Cooke’s family, it, nevertheless, is our collective belief that a lenient sentence would add further to the damages that we have suffered because many in both church and society are looking for a just and equitable end to this sorry chapter of our history,”officials said in the letter.”The psychic impact on our staff and organization has been more debilitating than the financial impact,”they added.”Her high-handed attitude and control needs destroyed the creativity and morale of many staff members and our internal healing process continues to be slow and deliberate.”Former staff members downsized due to economic retrenchment cannot be convinced that there is no direct correlation between her actions and the loss of their employment,”they said.

Cooke served as national treasurer to the church from 1986 to 1985.

In February 1995, the first signs of financial irregularity came to light. Weeks later, church officials discovered that some $2.2 million in church funds was missing.

The embezzlement financed a lavish lifestyle for Cooke and her family. She is married to Nicholas Cooke, an Episcopal priest who resigned from the ministry following revelations of his wife’s embezzlement. They have two sons.

The Cookes owned two homes and, according to court papers, spent thousands of dollars on extravagant living. Nicholas Cooke has not been charged with any crime.


Ellen Cooke admitted that she stole church funds by writing checks on church accounts and depositing them in her own bank. She also used church funds to pay for more than $320,000 in credit card charges between 1990 and 1995, including $96,000 in airplane flights, $39,000 in jewelry and $28,000 in restaurant bills. She also used the embezzled money to restore homes in New Jersey and Virginia and to pay the private school tuition of her sons.”I condemn this crime and the greed that caused it,”Barry said in Wednesday’s sentencing hearing.

Over the past year, the church has recovered much of the embezzled money, including $1 million from an insurance claim, and titles to two properties owned by Cooke and her husband.

One of the properties, a Montclair, N.J., home worth $675,000, netted the church $280,000. The Cookes’ Virginia farm is still on the market for $850,000.

In March, the church settled a civil suit with the Cookes when they agreed to turn over liquid assets valued at approximately $100,000 and unspecified”tangible personal property of the church,”which Ellen Cooke had in her possession.

MJP END ANDERSON

Donate to Support Independent Journalism!

Donate Now!