A couple who were formerly pastors at Bethel Institutional Missionary Baptist Church in southeast Houston are in jail on $800,000 bail, each charged with mishandling more than $200,000 of church money.

Charles Gilford, 58, and Adriane Gilford, 53, both indicted on Monday by a Harris County grand jury, were arrested Wednesday on charges of theft and misapplication of fiduciary property, according to online law enforcement records.

The alleged crimes took place between Dec. 30, 2004, and July 30, 2007, according to the indictment records.

During that time, the Gilfords allegedly used the money to gamble at the Coushatta Casino in Louisiana, KHOU-TV reported.

“Over that three-year period of time as fiduciaries there, they were able to take that total of $430,000 from that little Baptist church,” said Amy McCauley with the white collar crimes section of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

A man who answered the phone Saturday at the church, 5530 Selinsky Road, said he was not at liberty to comment on the case.

The Giffords are due Monday in the 182nd State District Court.



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