The Oakland Diocese declared bankruptcy in 2023 when forced to pay settlements to 330 victims of sex abuse at the hands of priests. Now victims’ attorneys say the church transferred more than $100 million into an inactive nonprofit to hide their assets.

We reported in 2023 that the Catholic Church’s East Bay stronghold, the Oakland Diocese, was forced to pay settlements to some 330 sex abuse victims who’d suffered abuse by priests in the diocese, and that the Oakland Diocese declared bankruptcy to stem their financial losses from the myriad settlements. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco did the same thing later that year, as did dozens of others nationwide, as this is a tactic to bundle all of the hundreds or thousands of sex abuse lawsuits into one large settlement, and therefore avoid individual civil trials.

It seems shady, but it might be getting even shadier. Now NBC Bay Area reports that attorneys for the victims say that the diocese transferred $106 million to a dormant nonprofit in order to hide the money from bankruptcy creditors, and therefore keep that pot of $100 million-plus unavailable to the sex abuse victims.

“I think any bankruptcy judge would recognize that you can’t take $100 million out of the debtor and then say, ‘my pockets are empty,’” an attorney for the victims, Rick Simons, told NBC Bay Area.

The “fund” that the diocese transferred the money to was the Oakland Parochial Fund, a nonprofit operated by the diocese. But an NBC Bay Area investigation showed that the fund had not only been completely inactive since 2017, but its nonprofit status had also been suspended by the California Secretary of State’s Office.

“In other words, this ‘fund’ was nothing more than a corporate shell until shortly before the bankruptcy was filed,” a representative of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) said to NBC Bay Area. “Now, that shell has $106 million in liquid assets that [Diocese of Oakland Bishop Michael] Barber claims is off limits to victims who have sued the Diocese.”

Honestly, is that what Jesus would do?

For their part, the Oakland Diocese gave NBC Bay Area a statement that was indignant, but short on facts.

“The Roman Catholic Bishop of Oakland (RCBO) rejects the Committee's allegations which are the subject of litigation between RCBO and the Committee in the chapter 11 case,” the statement said. “The Committee's allegations you reference are not supported by the facts and RCBO is fully addressing the allegations in response to the litigation filed by the Committee.”

In addition to the $106 million, victims argue that the diocese has hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate that could also be used for victim compensation.

The $106 million transfer may not hold up, as a bankruptcy judge has not yet approved the Oakland Diocese’s financial reorganization.

Related: Here Are the Hundreds of SF Archdiocese Catholic Clergy Accused of Sexual Abuse [SFist]

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