The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati on Monday sued a former business manager, Thomas “Shaun” Martin of Mason, alleging he stole more than $353,000 from three Hamilton County parishes over a period of years.

Spokesman Dan Andriacco said the archdiocese has been “working closely” with county prosecutors, but Martin has not been criminally charged. “We felt it was time to move on with our part of it, the civil part,” Andriacco said of the lawsuit in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.

Martin, who is no longer employed by the archdiocese, is accused of embezzling the money while he worked for Holy Family, St. John the Evangelist and St. John the Baptist parishes in separate stints over a number of years. He worked consecutively at five Hamilton County parishes since 2000. Andriacco said the investigation “came about because of irregularities that turned up in one parish that caused us to look at others.”

The lawsuit alleges “Martin’s regular scheme” involved failing to deposit funds, forging checks, abusing credit cards, providing himself with “excessive payroll” and falsifying payments to third parties and directing the money to his own accounts and creditors. The archdiocese also alleges Martin used church money to pay “bogus obligations” to companies he controls, Springwater Sweets and Flowers and Mack Martin Enterprises, which also are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

A man answering the phone at Springwater Sweets in Indian Hill and identifying himself as Shaun Martin told the Dayton Daily News he was unaware of the lawsuit and never worked for Catholic churches. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I can’t help you.”

The lawsuit seeks judgment against the defendants of at least $353,219.96, plus interest, attorney fees, costs and punitive damages.

The 19-county Cincinnati archdiocese is spiritual home to more than 475,000 Catholics in 19 counties, including those comprising the Miami Valley.

“We’ve been tightening up our finances for some time,” Andriacco said. Coincidentally, a full-time auditor started work Monday and a standard accounting system for all churches and schools is to be fully implemented in 2013. Additionally, the archdiocese is recommending that parishes use theft-resistant collection bags.