A top monsignor in Brooklyn has been relieved of administrative duties at a Williamsburg parish after a diocesan investigation revealed he transferred nearly $2 million of church money to a law firm and other accounts affiliated with a former chief of staff to Mayor Eric Adams.
Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello will remain the head of Our Lady of Mount Carmel–Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Williamsburg but won’t have any administrative oversight, the diocese announced.
Bishop Robert Brennan said in a statement that after a year-long investigation, Gigantiello has been relieved “of any pastoral oversight or governance role at the parish because he has mishandled substantial church funds and interfered with the administration of the Parish after being directed not to do so.”
Gigantiello — who once held a high-ranking fundraising position in the diocese before he was removed last year — transferred $1.9 million in parish funds between 2019 and 2021 to bank accounts affiliated with a law firm and two companies owned by Frank Carone, the mayor’s former chief of staff, according to the internal review, which was conducted by Alvarez & Marsal and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.
Gigantiello transferred $1 million to Abrams Fensterman, a law firm at one point owned by Carone, in January 2019, but didn’t inform the diocese or seek approval for the transfer. He didn’t document it or obtain necessary paperwork, a diocesan spokesperson said.
The loan was paid back with 9% interest between June 2020 and June 2021, a spokesperson for the diocese said.
In August 2021 and November 2021, Gigantiello again made two additional transfers totaling $900,000 to two companies owned by Carone: Cesco, LLC and Lex Ave 660 Partners LLC — again without informing the diocese, a spokesperson said.
Gigantiello told THE CITY the transfer of money were investments that yielded big returns for his parish.
“The investments were made legally and the investments came back,” he said, adding that he approached Carone to see “if there were any investments I could make.”
Earlier this year, Gigantiello was served a subpoena by the Southern District of New York as a witness to discuss these loans, he confirmed to THE CITY. It was first reported by NBC 4 New York.
“I got a subpoena to be a witness for the loan that was made, and I met with them and they thanked me for cooperating with them and that was it,” he said.
THE CITY previously wrote about Gigantiello’s financial ties to one of Carone’s businesses.
Carone did not respond to a phone call seeking comment.
The diocese also announced the removal of the parish’s temporary administrator, Deacon Dean Dobbins, “because of his use of racist and other offensive language during private conversations held in the Parish
office, which were apparently recorded at Monsignor Gigantiello’s direction without the Deacon’s consent.”
Gigantiello asserted to THE CITY that Dobbins was placed there by the current bishop to take him out.
“There’s no change, I’m the pastor of the parish and I’m in charge of the spiritual welfare of the parishioners,” he said, adding that he’s been a prolific fundraiser for both the diocese and every parish he’s worked at — including more than $250 million of the last 15 years as vicar of development for the diocese.
The investigation began after Gigantiello allowed pop singer Sabrina Carpenter to film a music video at the church last November.
He added that he believes “without a question” he’s being targeted by the current bishop stemming from jealousy over his successes within the diocese.
“A lot of it has to do with jealousy…the popularity of certain priests and success with the things that they do,” he said.
