Upper St. Clair church sues insurance carrier over theft coverage
An Upper St. Clair church whose administrator stole more than $1 million from it is suing its insurance carrier for breach of contract.
The suit contends that Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company paid $250,000 for the Westminster Presbyterian Church’s loss, but refuses to pay another $250,000 under the policy for the Westminster Early Childhood Education Programs.
David Reiter, 52, formerly of South Park, pleaded guilty in state court in October 2019 to receiving stolen property, theft, forgery, access device fraud, tampering with records and unlawful use of a computer.
Investigators said Reiter had been taking money from the church and its early childhood education program since 2011, and that he used it for his own expenses, including trips to Disney World.
At Reiter’s guilty plea hearing in state court, church officials testified that they had been unable to fund the mission trips they traditionally would and that they were on the brink of losing their Early Childhood Education program because of the theft.
After church officials discovered the losses and reported it to investigators, they filed a claim with their insurance carrier, Brotherhood Mutual.
Westminster and the education program bought insurance, including liability coverage, that they say ought to apply to the money taken by Reiter, according to the lawsuit.
The church and education programs believe they are each entitled to separate $250,000 payments for their separate losses. The coverage limit is $250,000.
In the complaint, they said that Brotherhood Mutual acknowledged after they filed their claim that the policy included “ministry personnel dishonesty coverage,” and that the funds Reiter took from both the education program and the church were covered.
However, Brotherhood Mutual notified them on May 11, that after making the single, $250,000 payment, it had fulfilled its obligations.
A message left with the company was not returned late Friday.
Reiter is serving five to 10 years in state prison and will be sentenced in federal court on tax charges on April 12.
Paula Reed Ward is a TribLive reporter covering federal and Allegheny County courts. She joined the Trib in 2020 after spending nearly 17 years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team. She is the author of "Death by Cyanide." She can be reached at pward@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.