Jury convicts retired Lansing area priest of embezzling nearly $800K

Dan Basso, Lansing State Journal
·2 min read
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LANSING — A Clinton County jury on Friday convicted a retired priest of stealing more than three-quarters of a million dollars from several retired priests over a six-year period.

David Rosenberg, 72, of DeWitt, was convicted on eight felony charges for stealing $780,000 and using the money to fund his own charitable foundation, FaithFirst, formerly known as the Rosenberg Family Corporation, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in release.

Rosenberg was convicted on three counts of embezzlement from a vulnerable adult $100,000 or more, a 20-year felony; one count of false pretenses $100,000 or more, a 20-year-felony; one count of false pretenses $20,000-$50,000, a 15-year felony; one county of perjury, a 15-year felony; one count of uttering and publishing, a 14-year felony; and one count of larceny, a 10-year felony, Nessel said.

Sentencing has been set for 1 p.m. on March 18.

Rosenberg was employed as director of the Lansing Catholic Diocese’s St. Francis Retreat Center in DeWitt between 2015 and 2021.

The 95-acre Retreat Center property includes apartments that house retired priests. The three victims lived at the Retreat Center apartments until their deaths, the release said.

The embezzlement charges pertain to retired priests the Rev. Benjamin Werner, the Rev. Joseph Aubin and the Rev. Ken McDonald, who purportedly donated much of their wealth to Rosenberg's foundation.

“Upon the conclusion of these criminal proceedings, our prayers are naturally with those most affected by Father Rosenberg’s actions, especially the close friends and family of his three victims, each of whom has since died, may they rest in peace,” said David Kerr, director of communications for the Diocese of Lansing.

Rosenberg was the director of the Diocese of Lansing’s Saint Francis Retreat Center in DeWitt from 2015 until his retirement in 2021, according to the Diocese.

The Diocese said Rosenberg was not accused of stealing money from the Diocese, and said as director of the retreat center he had no official responsibilities for the nearby community of retired priests.

After he was charged in 2022, Rosenberg was ordered to refrain from public ministry by Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing, the Diocese said. That order remains in place.

State Journal reporter Ken Palmer contributed.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing area retired priest David Rosenberg convicted of embezzlement