Philly diocese’s ex-CFO sentenced for $900k theft [updated]

    A former executive of the Philadelphia archdiocese is due in court today to be sentenced for stealing more than $900,000 from the church.

    Authorities say 42-year-old Anita Guzzardi of Haddon Neights, N.J., used hundreds of church checks to pay her credit card bills from 2005 to 2011.

    Update, 1:30 p.m. Guzzardi has been sentenced to two to seven years in prison., and has been ordered to pay the remaining restitution.

    Officials say a call from one of the credit card companies alerted police to the scam.

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    Guzzardi has pleaded guilty to theft by deception, unlawful use of a computer and forgery.

    She had worked for the Roman Catholic archdiocese since 1989 and had just been promoted to chief financial officer when she was fired last summer.

    Prosecutors have recovered more than $250,000 of the stolen funds.

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