CENTREVILLE, MI (WTVB) – An embezzlement case against a former Branch County Catholic priest has been bound over to St. Joseph County Circuit Court.
A court spokesperson said the next hearing date for Reverend Richard Fritz will be scheduled within the next month.
Fritz is accused of stealing over $213,000 from St. Mary’s Assumption in Bronson and St. Barbara Mission in Colon.
Investigators think he allegedly used the money to buy lottery tickets.
The case was bound over following a pre-examination conference last Tuesday.
A preliminary examination in St. Joseph District Court was not held as scheduled on Tuesday.
Fritz resigned last October following an investigation into questionable accounting practices between 2010 and 2016.
The charge was filed by St. Joseph County prosecutors in April.
While he is still a priest, Fritz is not currently active in public ministry.
