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Did Priest Steal Big Money From His Church?

Testimony is scheduled to resume today in the preliminary exam for a Lansing-area priest charged with embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from his parish.

An audit at the Saint Martha parish in Okemos found some 5-million dollars to be unaccounted for.

Father Jonathan Wehrle had been pastor of the church since 1988.

He was placed on administrative leave in May.

Prosecutors then charged him with one count of embezzlement of one hundred thousand dollars or more.

During testimony at the start of his exam last month, investigators says he used much of the money for improvements on his 11-thousand square foot home and on his mothers home in Pleasant Lake.

His home includes an elevator, a pipe organ and a movie theater.