Thou shalt not steal — unless the church needs money?

The pastor of Bethel Christian Community church in Montreal reportedly devised a scheme to steal money from a zoo in Quebec.

Quebec police have charged Mwinda Lezoka, 47, with siphoning nearly $1 million from a zoo near the U.S. border.

Police said Lezoka defrauded Parc Safari with the help of church member Ruth Eugene, 38, who worked as the zoo’s accountant for several years. Also charged is Eugene’s husband Jasmin St-Louis, 43.

That just floors me. Not the thievery itself – that almost seems par for the course, actually. I’m appalled by their decision to target a zoo, though. It sounds like the zoo won’t suffer much for the loss of all that cash but it still seems like a lot of money to me. I wonder what they would have used it for.

Quebec business records list Mwinda Lezoka as president of the company, Actions Bethel du Canada Inc. Parc Safari had earlier filed a civil lawsuit against the pastor and his church, saying the money that vanished from their accounts was used to fund church activities. The allegations have yet to be proven in court.

Apparently he’s already been in hot water over missing donations, too. Parishioners have yet to see any proof that their contributions went toward repairs.

I wonder how those involved wind up justifying this behaviour.