Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, left, former director of development for the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, is pictured on a 2016 Columbus Day float in Brooklyn with now retired Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio. (CNS photo/The Tablet/Ed Wilkinson)
by Brian Fraga
Staff Reporter
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A popular Brooklyn priest has been relieved of his parish duties after an investigation uncovered evidence that he transferred nearly $2 million in parish funds to a businessman who was the former chief of staff to embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams, the Diocese of Brooklyn announced Nov. 18.
The priest, Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, did not inform diocesan officials nor seek required approval for the transfers, which Gigantiello arranged between January 2019 and November 2021, the diocese said.
In addition, the diocese said its review identified other instances where the priest used and transferred parish funds in violation of diocesan policies and protocols. He is also alleged to have used a church credit card for "substantial" personal expenses. Those transactions are under investigation.
National Catholic Reporter has unsuccessfully attempted to contact Gigantiello for his reaction. John Marzulli, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York, told NCR it had no comment on the case.
In a prepared statement, Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan said he had relieved Gigantiello of any pastoral oversight or governance role at Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation Parish because Gigantiello had "mishandled substantial church funds and interfered with the administration of the Parish after being directed not to do so."
Brennan said he had also relieved the parish's temporary administrator, Deacon Doug Dobbins, after Dobbins was secretly recorded by Gigantiello using racist and "other offensive language" during private conversations in the parish office.
"It was wrong to secretly record Deacon Dobbins, but the use of such language by any church employee is unacceptable and will not be tolerated," Brennan said.
The news of Gigantiello's dismissal comes almost two months after federal investigators issued a subpoena at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood, where Gigantiello had served as pastor.
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First reported by NBC News 4 in New York, the subpoena inquired into Gigantiello's business dealings with Frank Carone, a local attorney, businessman and Adams' former chief of staff. The subpoena was delivered amid a sprawling federal investigation that has already resulted in Adams being indicted on charges that his campaign conspired with the Turkish government to receive illegal foreign donations.
Gigantiello told NCR on Sept. 26 that he has no involvement with the mayor's alleged schemes.
"I have had no business dealings with the mayor of New York," Gigantiello said.
Carone and Gigantiello have known each other since the priest served as a pastor to his family, News 4 reported. In 2021, Carone was honored at the Futures in Education Annual Scholarship Fund Dinner, an annual fundraiser for Catholic school scholarships in Queens and Brooklyn. Gigantiello, then the vicar of development for the Diocese of Brooklyn, presented Carone with an award alongside former Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio.
According to the Brooklyn Diocese, Gigantiello transferred $1.9 million in parish funds to bank accounts affiliated with Carone's law firm, as well as two companies affiliated with Carone. The transfers took the form of loans made to those Carone-affiliated entities, the diocese said.
The first transfer, $1 million, was made in January 2019 to Carone's law firm, Abrams Fensterman LLP, according to the diocese. In August 2021 and November 2021, Gigantiello made two additional transfers, totaling $900,000, in parish funds to two companies associated with Carone; Cesco, LLC and Lex Ave 660 Partners LLC.
For those transfers — which were made via promissory notes providing one-year repayment terms at agreed interest rates — the diocese said Gigantiello violated diocesan investment policies and protocols by not informing diocesan officials or seeking the required approvals.
The diocese said Gigantiello "did not obtain necessary details" from Carone about his companies or the use of those funds. In February 2022, the diocese said Gigantiello requested early repayment of those parish funds without requiring Carone to pay the "substantial interest" provided for under the notes.
The Brooklyn Diocese commissioned New York-based law firm Sullivan & Cromwell and consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal to conduct the investigation.
In November 2023, Brennan removed Gigantiello from all administrative and financial oversight at Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation Parish after learning that Gigantiello had permitted the filming of a pop music video in the church. Brennan also stripped him of his role as the diocese's vicar for development and appointed Dobbins the parish's temporary administrator.
Gigantiello, a New York Fire Department chaplain with a gregarious personality, sells his own signature line of pasta sauce and has socialized comfortably with city leaders. He traveled with Adams and Carone to visit Pope Francis in May, News 4 reported. Gigantiello's personal website also features photos of himself with Adams and celebrities such as former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning.
