A Catholic priest from Brooklyn, who a year ago was sanctioned for allowing singer Sabrina Carpenter to film a video clip in his parish, has now been relieved of all his pastoral responsibilities as a suspect of embezzling $1.9 million in parish funds.
According to a statement from the Diocese of Brooklyn (New York), Father Jamie Gigantiello allegedly made several unauthorized financial operations to lend parish funds to entities linked to Frank Carone, who was chief of staff to New York Mayor Eric Adams, investigated and accused of corruption.
An investigation commissioned by the diocese to auditors after the filming of the video discovered that Gigantiello committed “serious violations of diocesan policy between 2019 and 2021“, according to the statement.
Carone’s activities gave rise to a federal investigation of the mayor of New Yorkin which Gigantiello appears mentioned and the diocese questioned about the priest’s relations with the former official.
Sabrina Carpenter, in the middle of a concert she gave at Madison Square Garden in New York last September, mentioned that research“Should we talk about how I got the mayor charged or…?”, which caused a standing ovation from the public, according to different media outlets.
According to the Brooklyn Paper, part of the money lent by Gigantiello was returned with interest of 9%, but the transactions were not documented. nor was it specified for what purpose the funds were used.
Gigantiello He began to be in the sights of the diocese after permission was granted in 2023 to record Sabrina Carpenter’s video clip in the church of Our Lady of the Annunciation.
In some moments of the video the former Disney Channel star is seen arriving at the church in a pink hearse and then dancing in front of the altar in a mourning dress and a black veil next to a colorful assortment of coffins of men who, according to the script, misbehaved with her and those she killed.
The diocese said after the video was published that it was “horrified” and that they had not followed up proper procedures for filming. The priest asked his parishioners for forgiveness, but was sanctioned by the diocese with the withdrawal of his administrative responsibilities in 2023.
In addition to the loans to entities linked to Carone, Gigantiello is responsible, according to the investigation ordered by the diocese, for making use of the parish credit card to pay personal expenses.