New Bedford Knights Missing Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars

The New Bedford chapter of the Knights of Columbus is missing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

According to The Standard-Times, the state chapter of the Knights reports the New Bedford chapter, which is currently inactive, cannot account for as much as $300,000.

The Knights of Columbus is a Catholic fraternal organization of men.

The New Bedford chapter, identified as McMahon Council 151, received a letter from the state organization recently informing them of the news. The letter did not identify the last president of the organization, which is based out of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish at Saint James Church.

The last known treasurer of the local chapter, 81-year-old Ernest Medeiros, told the paper the state council stole the local chapter's books, and that he has not been the financial secretary for a couple of years. He said the money is in a bank account, but would only release that information to the National Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus.

He also said that the state council officials who came for the books offered no proof of who they were or why he should hand over the money to them.

So far, there is no record of any criminal investigation into the organization.In the meantime, officials are trying to re-establish the local chapter at the church. A meeting is set for Monday night at 7 p.m. at the parish hall.