Brandon priest pleads guilty to using church credit card for Vegas trips, massages, Netflix

A Manitoba priest who admitted to using a church credit card for nearly $200,000 in private purchases has pleaded guilty to theft.

Noah Njegovan was charged in 2015 with theft over $5,000 and fraud over $5,000. At the time, Njegovan was an archdeacon with the Anglican Diocese of Brandon. He pleaded guilty to the theft charge in Brandon Court of Queen's Bench on Monday, while the fraud charge was stayed.

According to a civil suit filed in 2014 by the Anglican Church of Canada and the Diocese of Brandon, Njegovan was alleged to have used a church Visa card between January 2010 and September 2012 to pay for three trips to Las Vegas, massages, clothing and a Netflix subscription, among other items and services.

During that time, he was in charge of finances and bookkeeping for the diocese and had access to the church's credit card and online bank accounts, court documents said.

The documents say that he would charge the credit card and then redirect funds from the church's bank account to pay for the purchases.

In a statement, the diocese said $192,000 has been paid back by Njegovan. $75,000 will go toward repaying the church's insurance coverage.

Njegovan has also "relinquished" his duties with the church, according to the diocese.

"While until now, Noah has been listed as 'on leave' from the Diocese of Brandon, the effect of this relinquishment is that he will no longer function or be listed as a priest," the diocese said in a written statement.

Njegovan will be sentenced on the theft charge in January.