Former president of Elmhurst church charged with stealing from donations

A former president of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Elmhurst has been accused of stealing from its donations.

Bail was set at $100,000 Friday for Peter Barkoulies, 68, of the 1200 block of Ashley Lane in Addison. He is charged with four felony counts of burglary to a place of worship.

Authorities allege that Barkoulies stole about $700 out of a memorial table, where parishioners insert money through a slot as a donation. Four times between Dec. 8, 2022, and Jan. 25, Barkoulies accessed the money by using a key he got while serving as parish president from 2019 to 2021, authorities said. He was supposed to return the key at the end of his term, according to a news release from the DuPage County state's attorney's office.

Church officials grew suspicious about the missing funds and reported it to Elmhurst police. Barkoulies was arrested Thursday.

"The allegations against Mr. Barkoulies are very disheartening," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in the release. "As parish president, Mr. Barkoulies was entrusted with the well-being of the parish. He allegedly betrayed that trust by treating the parish's memorial table as his own personal piggy bank."

Barkoulies will need to post $10,000 to be freed pretrial. As a condition of release, Barkoulies has been ordered to stay away from the church, which is at 893 Church Road.

Barkoulies' next court appearance is scheduled for March 1.