FORMER TREASURER OF CHURCH ORGANIZATION CHARGED WITH
MAIL FRAUD IN CONNECTION WITH $1.1 MILLION
EMBEZZLEMENT OF CHURCH FUNDS

Martin C. Carlson, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced today that Barry R. Herr, 61, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was charged with mail fraud regarding a scheme to embezzle approximately $1.1 million belonging to the Lower Susquehanna Synod ("LSS") of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ("ELCA"). A plea agreement was also filed indicating that Mr. Herr intends to plead guilty to the charge when he appears in federal court for his arraignment. If convicted, Mr. Herr faces up to twenty years imprisonment, a fine of up to $2.2 million, and will be required to make full restitution.

The LSS is comprised of approximately 262 churches located in Central Pennsylvania and maintains an office in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where Mr. Herr was employed as its Treasurer. As Treasurer, Mr. Herr was responsible for managing all the financial affairs for the LSS, including maintaining its bank accounts. The criminal charge filed today indicates that between 1985 and 2007, Mr. Herr diverted approximately $1.1 million in LSS funds into a fraudulent bank account he maintained at a Lancaster-based bank formerly known as Hamilton Bank and currently operating as Wachovia Bank. Herr also set up a fraudulent post office box in Lancaster to conceal the bank statements which reflected his embezzlement of church funds.

The scheme came to light in July 2007 after the LSS terminated Mr. Herr's employment for unrelated reasons. LSS officials found several suspicious checks that had not yet been negotiated, and reported the matter to the Lower Paxton Township Police Department which conducted an investigation. That investigation led to Mr. Herr's arrest on March 13, 2008, when he was charged with theft by deception and criminal use of a communication facility. The Dauphin County District Attorney's Office then referred the case to federal law enforcement authorities, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service began its investigation which led to the current mail fraud charge.

The case was investigated by the Lower Paxton Township Police Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and is assigned to Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Brandler for prosecution.

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An Indictment or Information is not evidence of guilt but simply a description of the charge made by the Grand Jury and/or United States Attorney against a defendant. A charged Defendant is presumed innocent until a jury returns a unanimous finding that the United States has proven the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt or until the defendant has pled guilty to the charges.