Court Considers Consolidating St. Isidore Embezzlement Cases

Virgilio Lukban, a former facilities manager at Catholic Church in Danville, appeared in court Wednesday to set his preliminary hearing date.

During the short proceeding, three people were in court to show their support — including his wife, who declined to comment on her husband's case, and a young woman who left the courtroom in tears.

Lukban, 46, who is being held on $134,000 bail, began working at the church in 2003, according to Diocese of Oakland spokesman Mike Brown.

He entered a not-guilty plea on five felony embezzlement charges earlier this month.

During the hearing, at which the date for his next appearance was set for June 13, there also was a motion from Judge Nancy Davis Stark to have Lukban's case consolidated with those of two others charged in connection with about $600,000 missing from the church.

Another former St. Isidore employee, Kathleen Dake of Blackhawk, is charged with taking about $220,000, using church checks and credit cards for personal expenses.

Dake was an office manager who began working at the church in 2002, according to Brown. She was put on administrative leave after an investigation into the missing funds began and was later fired.

She to the charges last week and is being held on $433,000 bail in Martinez.

Evelyn Peinado, 64, of Alamo, a former church volunteer, put money into a trust fund to cover restitution to St. Isidore should she be found guilty, said Steve Bolen, Contra Costa County deputy district attorney. Peinado turned herself in at court for her arraignment.

Peinado faces three felony embezzlement charges, and is charged, like Lukban, with taking about $360,000 from the church through fraudulent use of credit cards, police said.

A nine-month police investigation led to the three arrests.

According to a statement issued earlier this month by the Diocese of Oakland, St. Isidore's Pastor Gerry Moran noticed discrepancies in the parish financial office records in May 2010. He then asked the parish finance committee to look into it. The diocese reported the theft to the Danville Police Department in August.

Moran, overseen by the diocese and the parish finance committee, has hired a bookkeeper and an accounting manager for financial administration for cash receipts, disbursements, payroll and financial statement preparation, according to the statement.

The Diocese of Oakland said the organization "intends to seek restitution of the stolen funds from the perpetrators and, if necessary, financial recovery through the courts."