(RNS) — A district court judge granted final approval Monday (Aug. 18) to a partial settlement for clergy and staffers of the African Methodist Episcopal Church after a substantial percentage of funds from their retirement plan were discovered to be missing.
The historically Black denomination has been accused of mishandling the retirement funds, leaving many plan participants with about 30% of what they had hoped to use for retirement. The denomination accused its former retirement department head of embezzlement after discovering in 2021 that he provided “deceptive, false and grossly inflated financial statements” about the retirement plan.
Judge S. Thomas Anderson of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee approved the partial settlements for the plaintiffs — totaling some 4,500 people whose single case was previously consolidated from six — with the denomination and Newport Group Inc., a third-party administrator involved with the church’s retirement services. He said if the case was not settled, the plan participants could “face the risk of rulings adverse to their cause.”
Under the approved settlement, the AME Church has put $20 million into a settlement fund and Newport provided $40 million, totaling $60 million plus any interest.
Lawyers for plan participants and the church confirmed Tuesday that, not including int …