Man Bilked Nearly $265k from 91-Year-Old Priest, Deputies Say

A 56-year-old Jacksonville man faces criminal charges after Sarasota County deputies say he took advantage of a longstanding friendship with a 91-year-old Carmelite Catholic priest to drain the elderly man’s bank accounts dry.

Chris Crisafulli was charged with exploitation of an elderly person $100,000 or more after a lengthy investigation into the alleged criminal. That investigation began last October when the priest, a Sarasota resident, contacted the sheriff’s office in regard to fraudulent transactions on his Raymond James and Wells Fargo accounts, an arrest report stated.

During the course of the investigation, deputies discovered that Crisafulli had managed to obtain a limited power of attorney over the priest’s Raymond James account and added himself as a secondary joint account owner on the Wells Fargo account, the report stated. Crisafulli managed to gain the necessary signature for power of attorney by getting the priest to sign documents he thought enabled automatic payments for a monthly long-distance phone service Crisafulli talked him into signing up for. That access enabled Crisifulli to siphon thousands of dollars for his own use, deputies allege.

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Crisifulli is also accused of talking the priest, who had long served as his spiritual mentor, into donating $100,000 to a Catholic charity called Fraternus. The money, the arrest report stated, was used to fund a job for Crisifulli who was ultimately fired five months later for “behavior unbecoming.”

All told, deputies say Crisafulli drained nearly $265,000 from the man’s accounts, the report stated.

Crisafulli was brought into custody Monday. Deputies say he admitted to using the money to pay his mortgage, buy a truck and cover other bills. He was released from the Sarasota County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bond.

Booking photo courtesy of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office

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