Louisiana pastor indicted for embezzling $343K from church says he worked without pay

A Louisiana pastor indicted for allegedly embezzling more than $343,000 from one of two churches he leads has denied the charges, saying he worked without pay for four years after discovering financial problems at the church.

Dale Sanders Sr., 56, pastor of Fifth African Baptist Church of New Orleans, Louisiana, and Second New Guide Missionary Baptist Church of Metairie, Louisiana, denied the allegations in a video statement on Facebook on April 22. He said the claims stem from his work at the Metairie church.

“Let me submit to you today that I am a giver, that I’ve always been a giver. I don’t steal, and I have not stolen from a church I’ve pastored. The lies that are swirling about Dale Sanders now will all have to be answered, to my assumption, in a court of law,” he said.

Sanders was charged in an 11-count indictment for access device fraud and obstruction of a federal investigation, in violation of Title 18 of the U.S. Code, Sections 1029(a)(2), 1029(c)(1)(A)(i), and 1519.

The indictment, announced Tuesday by U.S. Attorney David I. Courcelle of the Eastern District of Louisiana, alleges that from approximately April 2020 through April 2024, Sanders used a debit card linked to a church bank account to withdraw approximately $343,293.

In his April 22 video statement, Sanders said the allegations stem from an ongoing conflict with a former finance manager at Second New Guide Missionary Baptist Church. He added that when he arrived at the church 13 years ago, he took over a fractured congregation and later discovered financial mismanagement.

“I would show up sometimes for Bible study on Wednesday nights, and the church lights would be off. Other times, we lost church insurance. And when we would go to renew that insurance with another company, it would cost us tens of thousands of dollars,” Sanders said.

He alleged other church leaders urged him to dismiss the finance manager when he first became pastor, but he believed doing so would be too disruptive.

Sanders maintained that the church’s finances worsened to the point that the finance manager asked him to take a $2,000 monthly pay cut. After agreeing, he said he eventually stopped receiving any salary for four years.

“For more than four years, I received a salary of zero from the Second New Guide Missionary Baptist Church. During that time period, I suffered immensely. Number one, my marriage suffered. My wife, at the time, did not know what was going on financially,” Sanders said.

“I never shared it with her, that I was preaching, teaching, pastoring, burying the dead, marrying, doing all the things I did at Fifth African, and doing all the things any pastor does. And I was receiving no wages for that, which was greatly hurting our household.”

He said that as a result, two cars were repossessed, and he had to transfer his youngest son from private school to public school during his sophomore year.

Sanders said he endured these hardships while protecting the church’s finance manager.

“I shielded what was going on. Shielded this gentleman, covered it to the expense of my own exposure,” he said.

The pastor faces up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, up to three years of supervised release, and a mandatory $100 special assessment fee. He pleaded not guilty during an April 27 arraignment and was released on a $5,000 bond. A trial is scheduled for July 6.

“I’m not a perfect man,” he said. “Dale Sanders has never suggested to anyone that he was a perfect man. But there are some things I would never do. And what I’m being accused of is something I have never done.”