Former area priest accused of embezzling $740K

State investigators allege Gregory Madeya misappropriated church funds, stole a gold chalice and drained his elderly mother’s accounts.

By PATRICK VARINE
TribLive

A Ukrainian Catholic priest is charged with stealing more than $740,000 in church funds and from multiple victims — including his mother — which police say he used to buy a luxury car, take expensive vacations and gamble.

St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in McKeesport, shown on Monday. (Justin Vellucci | TribLive)

Gregory A. Madeya, 69, who was arrested Aug. 14 in Vero Beach, Fla., was charged by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office with multiple counts of theft by unlawful taking, financial exploitation of an older adult or care-dependent person and related financial charges, part of a pattern of behavior that investigators said stretches back to 2018, according to court documents.

Investigators said Madeya fraudulently misappropriated nearly $320,000 from multiple victims including three Western Pennsylvania churches, parishioners and donors, took more than $230,000 from his mother’s investment accounts and failed to pay more than $248,000 in taxes. Madeya’s actions resulted in the total misappropriation of $740,409.96.

In February 2023, agents from the attorney general’s office began working with police from Grove City, McKeesport and Allegheny County to investigate narcotics and the misuse of funds from religious organizations, allegedly involving Madeya.

Trash from a West Mifflin residence Madeya shared with another man, Marc Mowod, turned up more than 100 stamp bags containing heroin residue, 22 hypodermic needles and broken glass pipes, according to a police affidavit.

During an interview with police, Mowod said he met Madeya through another priest, and that he would meet Madeya at various Allegheny County hotels, where he would perform sexual acts in exchange for drugs or cash. Mowod told police Madeya paid for the hotels, and that he eventually moved into Madeya’s West Mifflin residence on Bettis Road.

Mowod said he had access to Madeya’s bank accounts, including church accounts. He also told police that Madeya had bought him a $35,500 2018 Ford Mustang, paying in cash.

On Madeya’s electronic devices, investigators found messages and photos related to narcotics as well as photographs of debit cards and bank documents related to his church, St. John the Baptist in McKeesport. In Madeya’s trash, agents found several church-offering collection envelopes from the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Derry Township.

Over the course of the investigation, witnesses from across the church community relayed instances of missing collections money and fundraising proceeds, donations, rent and church-related fees that were never deposited into church accounts, investigators said, including:

• Selling church property: Investigators spoke with a jeweler who was allegedly approached by Madeya, acting as a representative of the church, wanting to sell a gold chalice that was purchased for $19,440 under the belief that the money was going to help the church’s finances.

• Diverting fundraiser proceeds: Madeya took funds generated from fundraisers at St. Demetrius Church in Jeannette, keeping money from pierogi sales as well as from raffles, according to court documents.

• Pocketing organizational payments: Investigators said Madeya kept more than $10,000 from a McKeesport Knights of Columbus chapter, representing several years’ payment for renting the St. John’s rectory basement for monthly meetings, as well as $5,400 intended for a new refrigerator at the church’s social hall.

• Exploiting his mother’s finances: Madeya’s mother was evicted from multiple nursing home facilities because of a lack of payment, and investigators said Madeya had abused his position as power of attorney to steal money meant for her care and used her bank account to move stolen money around, according to a criminal complaint.

• Funding luxury travel: Investigators stated that church funds and cash were used to pay for multiple luxury vacations and trips, including to Key West, Fla., and international cruises with Norwegian Cruise Line.

Madeya is jailed in Florida, awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania. He was suspended from his position in the Ukrainian Catholic Church in February 2024, according to the Saint Josaphat Eparchy based in Ohio.