Dallas Catholic Diocese officials are releasing new information about a "con man" who obtained about $128,000 from a University of Dallas campus church.They also say the FBI dropped its inquiry into the matter without coming to any conclusions about what happened. The FBI would not confirm or deny that Monday.
Diocese spokeswoman Annette Gonzales Taylor said the man used the name William "Bill" Ryan and is white, in his 60s, and about 5 feet 8 inches tall. He weighs about 150 pounds and has wavy, graying hair.
He is "very personable and animated," Taylor said, and has "a distinguishable New York accent."
Diocese officials say Ryan posed as a parishioner and probably is using a fake name. They say they have no photograph of him.
He and three other people the diocese wouldn't name received a series of Western Union payments in New York "over 3 1/2 months," Taylor said.
They got the money from the Rev. Anthony "Tony" Densmore, who was chaplain at the Irving university and rector of the on-campus Church of the Incarnation. He did not respond to an interview request Monday.
Densmore has been on administrative leave since the scandal surfaced early this year. Bishop Kevin Farrell has said the priest violated policy by making unauthorized loans.
The situation came to light when "a vigilant employee at Church of the Incarnation brought the financial irregularities to the attention of diocesan leaders," Taylor said.
She said Ryan told Densmore "that he had been attending the church for a while, and that he needed help to get his ailing, elderly mother back to New York where they could get her into a nursing home."
"He asked Father Densmore to loan him the money and promised to pay back the funds," she said.
Ryan was not a registered member of the Irving congregation but referred to past sermons and parish events, she said. He made similar approaches to other priests in the diocese, she said, but they did not comply.
"Father Densmore was the victim of a scam," the spokeswoman said.
After the priest was suspended, someone identifying himself as Ryan called diocese officials at least four times.
According to Taylor, he said that "Densmore had done nothing wrong and had only helped him, a parishioner in need, and that he didn't understand why Father would have been placed on administrative leave for that."
"The man also said he fully intended to repay the money," she said.
But the caller refused to meet with church officials and has not repaid the money, the spokeswoman said.
"It was discovered that the man was using a disposable cellphone that could not be traced," she added.
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