€650k embezzled from Hague church

Two prominent members of the Baptist Church in The Hague are suspected of having embezzled €650,000 from the church fund, the AD reports. "We are immensely shocked. Our faith has been shamed", president of the church council Clara Wesselink van Dijk said. "Afterwards it seems that it has been going on for a long time." The pair of embezzlers, Hans and Brigitte S., didn't flaunt the money. Nobody knows exactly what they did with the cash. A letter about the affair that the church council sent to its members only reveals that funds were taken, and that card payments for expenditures were made at, for example, restaurants. Private bills were also settled from within church accounts. A report has been filed against the two with the police. A procedure has also started to retrieve the money, and the couple's possessions have been seized. The pair had easy access to the church's money. Until 201o, Hans was treasurer, and Brigitte S. was his successor. The embezzlement was discovered last Summer. Hans S. subsequently promised to reimburse the church for the damages.