Honolulu police have recovered $150,000 in stolen donations from a convicted felon who was working for the Salvation Army, according to documents filed in O'ahu District Court.

Timothy Peter Janusz, 48 of Kailua, was arrested Thursday in 'Aiea on suspicion of firstdegree theft and held in lieu of an unusually large bail — $1 million cash.

Janusz was sentenced to 63 months in prison for defrauding an elderly Colorado couple out of more than $2 million in 1996, then escaped from prison, was caught in the Caribbean and was sent back to prison, according to court documents and an Associated Press report from that time.

When he was arrested Thursday, he was on probation for the earlier offenses.

For the last three years Janusz has worked as the director of planned giving at the Salvation Army's office in Manoa and was responsible for arranging large gifts such as bequests and annuities. He also has taught at Wayland Baptist University in 'Aiea, according to court documents.

In addition to the cash, police seized business records from a holding company Janusz set up that had four vacant lots in Arizona, valued at $18,000 each, and proceeds from the sale of a 50 percent interest in a Big Island property. All the properties had been donated to the Salvation Army, according to court documents.

On Thursday, Honolulu police arrested Janusz at the Wayland Baptist University campus in 'Aiea where he has been an instructor, according to police documents.

A Salvation Army spokesman could not be reached for comment yesterday. But on Friday, spokesman Daniel de Castro said Janusz has been placed on leave after the charity had informed police about financial irregularities involving him.

Janusz's initial appearance in O'ahu District Court is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. tomorrow.

After being convicted of diverting $2,263,000 from an elderly Colorado couple whose income tax returns he was preparing in 1996, Janusz was sentenced to 63 months in a federal prison camp in South Dakota, according to court documents.

Janusz escaped from the prison in Yankton, S.D., in January 1998. He was arrested 14 months later on a Caribbean island where he was living with his wife and their five children, according to an Associated Press story from May 2000.

His wife, Susan Janusz, eventually pleaded guilty to helping her husband escape from the prison, the AP reported.

According to District Court documents:

Janusz's supervisor at the Salvation Army, Barbara Dorman, alerted police on March 31 after she received an anonymous e-mail detailing Janusz's criminal record in Colorado and telling of thefts from the Salvation Army, according to court documents. After receiving the e-mail, Dorman searched the files in Janusz's office.

She retrieved a previously lost file containing photocopies of three checks, each in the amount of $50,000 made payable to Kaspick Holding Company. Dorman recognized the similarity in the name to Kaspick & Company, which is the authorized, California-based managing company for the Salvation Army. In the same file was a copy of a Hawai'i business registration filing document stating that Kaspick Holding Company was operated by Janusz.

The three checks were given to the Salvation Army by Franklin C. Geiger, who noted that they were for "Salvation Army gift annuity." Police located Geiger, who told them the funds were intended for the Salvation Army, not Janusz, according to court documents. Also in the file was a deposit slip for $150,000 to the Kaspick Holding Company, operated by Janusz.

Janusz also set up KI Consulting Limited to hold the properties donated to the Salvation Army, the documents show.

According to a biography sheet with a Wayland Baptist University heading provided to the court, Janusz holds a law degree from Creighton School of Law in Omaha, Neb., and an accounting degree from Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D.

The sheet gives a brief biography listing his accomplishments, saying: "He is currently working as the Planned Giving Director at the Hawaiian and Pacific Islands Divisional Headquarters of the Salvation Army."

According to its Web site, Wayland is a private university with 12 campuses. The main campus is in Plainview, Texas.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.