A Brooklyn monsignor whose church had been subpoenaed amid the Eric Adams corruption investigation has been relieved of many of his duties after allegedly mishandling $2 million in church funds and using a church credit card for personal expenses, the Diocese said in a statement Monday.
Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello, of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, was stripped "of any pastoral oversight or governance role at the Parish because he has mishandled substantial church funds and interfered with the administration of the Parish after being directed not to do so," the statement read.
The Diocese says it learned of the alleged "serious violations" as part of ongoing legal investigations into the federal corruption scandal. In September, News 4 reported that Catholic church in Williamsburg had received a subpoena requesting information about financial or business dealing between Frank Carone, one-time chief of staff to Adams, and Gigantiello.
At the time, the two claimed a decades-long friendship.
Gigantiello was also the monsignor who allowed the filming of Sabrina Carpenter's pop music video at the church, which the Diocese says was against policy. He lost status immediately after that incident, too. His replacement, Deacon Dobbins, also has been put on administrative leave. The church alleges Gigantiello ordered someone to record a private conversation with Dobbins that happened in Parish office. Dobbins used offensive and racist language during that conversation, the church says, and while the recording was made without his consent, it says he's accountable.
The review that exposed these findings was borne of Bishop Robert Brennan's initiation of a broad assessment of compliance with Diocesan policies at Our Lady of Mount Carmel. According to the findings, Gigantiello transfered $1.9 million in Parish funds to bank accounts associated with Carone's law firm as well as two affiliated companies.
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Those transfers took the form of apparent loans or business investments from the Parish to those Carone-affiliated entities, one with interest, one without.
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Arthur Aidala, Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello’s attorney, said the credit card expenses at issue were authorized in writing under the terms of the Monsignor’s compensation agreement. He says this is because the Monsignor was simultaneously performing several roles in the church, including Vicar of Development. Aidala said that these business deals benefitted the church, for instance returning 12 percent interest on that initial 1 million investment with Abrams Fensterman (higher than the 9 percent cited by the Diocese). A spokesperson for Carone declined to comment.
Gigantiello failed to inform Diocesan officials or get the required approval for the transfers, church officials say.
“The matter which provided financial benefit to the Diocese is concluded," a spokesperson for the law firm, Abrams Fensterman LLP, told NBC New York.
The review also founded additional instances where Gigantiello used and transferred Parish funds in violation of policy. They say he also ussed a church credit card for substantial personal expenses, which remain under investigation.
Gigantiello is known for his love for cooking, as seen on his Facebook page. He manufactures a line of pasta sauce called "A Taste of Heaven," the proceeds of which he has said go to charity.
Neither Carone, nor Gigantiello, nor Dobbins has been charged with any criminal wrongdoing at this time. A representative for Gigantiello did not immediately return requests for comment. Stu Loeser, a spokesman for Carone, is reviewing News 4's request for comment.
John Marzulli, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn, declined comment on the ongoing criminal investigation.
