Monsignor Gigantiello of Brooklyn is reassigned to NBC New York

A Brooklyn monsignor whose church was subpoenaed in the Eric Adams corruption investigation has been relieved of many of his duties after allegedly mishandling $2 million in church funds and using a church credit card for personal expenses, the diocese said in a statement Monday .

Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello, of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, was stripped of “any pastoral oversight or governance role in the parish for mishandling substantial church funds and interfering in the governance of Paris after being ordered to do so not to do,” the statement said. read.

The diocese says it learned of the alleged “serious violations” as part of the ongoing legal investigation into the federal corruption scandal. In September, News 4 reported that the Catholic Church in Williamsburg had received a subpoena seeking information about financial or business dealings between Frank Carone, Adams’ former chief of staff, and Gigantiello.

The two claimed a decades-long friendship at the time.

Gigantiello was also the monsignor who allowed the shooting of Sabrina Carpenter’s pop music video at the church, which the diocese said was against policy. He also lost his status immediately after that incident. His replacement, Deacon Dobbins, has also been placed on administrative leave. The church claims that Gigantiello directed someone to record a private conversation with Dobbins that took place in the parish office. Dobbins used offensive and racist language during that conversation, the church says, and although the recording was made without his consent, the church says he is responsible.

The review that uncovered these findings grew out of Bishop Robert Brennan’s initiative for a broad review of diocesan compliance at Our Lady of Mount Carmel. According to the findings, Gigantiello transferred $1.9 million in parish funds to bank accounts linked to Carone’s law firm and two affiliated companies.

These transfers took the form of apparent loans or business investments from the parish to Carone’s affiliated entities, one with interest, one without.

Arthur Aidala, attorney for Monsignor Jamie Gigantiello, said the credit card charges in question were approved in writing under the terms of the monsignor’s compensation agreement. He says this is because the monsignor simultaneously held several roles in the church, including vicar of development. Aidala said these business deals benefited the church, for example returning 12 percent interest on the initial $1 million investment at Abrams Fensterman (higher than the 9 percent quoted by the diocese). A spokesperson for Carone declined to comment.

Gigantiello failed to notify diocesan officials or get the required approval for the transfers, church officials say.

“The matter that provided financial benefit to the diocese has been concluded,” a spokesperson for the law firm, Abrams Fensterman LLP, told NBC New York.

The investigation also found that Gigantiello used and transferred parish funds in violation of policy. They say he also used a church credit card for significant personal expenses, which remain under investigation.

Gigantiello is known for his love of cooking, as seen on his Facebook page. He produces a line of pasta sauce called “A Taste of Heaven,” the proceeds of which he says go to charity.

Neither Carone, Gigantiello, nor Dobbins have been charged with any criminal wrongdoing at this time. A representative for Gigantiello did not immediately return requests for comment. Stu Loeser, a spokesperson for Carone, is reviewing News 4’s request for comment.

John Marzulli, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn, declined comment on the ongoing criminal investigation.