MIAMI – Detectives and prosecutors agreed with church administrators’ suspicions that two men were stealing from St. Louis Catholic Church and St. Louis Covenant School in Pinecrest, according to the Archdiocese of Miami.
As a campaign manager and development director, the church entrusted Nelson C. Tarke with handling church funds. Tarke worked with Stefano Lambo, a financial adviser who was a church’s contractor.
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Tarke, 45, and Lambo, 45, are accused of betraying the church’s trust. They both face grand theft charges in an organized scheme to defraud the church.
The Archdiocese of Miami released a statement Friday saying the church administrators reported Tarke’s alleged unauthorized spending to the Miami-Dade Police Department last year.
The church reported having dismissed Tarke in May 2019 and Lambo in August 2019.
Tarke was also active with CAMACOL, the Latin Chamber of Commerce and Industry of USA, and Lambo with the World Financial Group Miami-Dade and the REMii Group Inc.