A committee of clergy-abuse victims is seeking a bankruptcy-court order to force the Diocese of Rockville Centre to hand over an internal report detailing the institution’s transfer of millions of dollars of assets within the past four years, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Lawyers for an official committee of abuse survivors filed papers on Friday seeking a report on a number of transactions carried out by the suburban Long Island diocese, including the transfer of cemeteries, real estate in Huntington, N.Y., and $3 million in cash to a number of affiliates. Abuse victims’ efforts to force the diocese to disclose details of the diocese-authorized inquiry signals potential coming fights over transfers it undertook that victims believe may have shielded valuable assets from those seeking compensation. Rockville Centre filed for bankruptcy in October, becoming the largest diocese to seek chapter 11 protection in response to lawsuits by victims of sexual abuse. Friday’s court filing concerns the Independent Advisory Committee, a body the diocese created in 2019 to investigate, litigate and settle any potential claims that the transfers were fraudulent and carried out to shift assets beyond the reach of abuse survivors.
