LACONIA, N.H. (AP) – A probate judge has ordered a Laconia priest to pay roughly $1.6 million for mishandling another priest’s estate, and causing millions of dollars in losses.

The estate belonged to Monsignor Norman Bolduc, who died in 2000.

The Rev. George Soberick was named executor of the estate. Lawyers for Bolduc’s family estimated the estate had a net value of about $2.8 million, much of it tied up in volatile high-tech stocks.

Judge Gary Cassavechcia found that the estate’s value dropped to less than $600,000.

“Nearly $1.5 million was lost the first week of December 2000 alone,” the judge wrote. He blamed Soberick and the Manchester law firm of Devine, Millimet and Branch, which initially administered the estate.

When the firm began contacting brokerage firms to close certain accounts and stop calls for stock margin loan repayments, it frequently sent the wrong paperwork to the brokerage houses, or sent correct paperwork to the wrong address.

“Father Soberick turned a blind eye to the reality presented and DMB (Devine, Millimet) did not act with any urgency. A combination of things went very wrong for the decedent’s estate early on,” Cassavechia wrote.

Much of Bolduc’s stock was bought on margin, meaning it was bought in part with borrowed money, with the stock as collateral. The hope is the loan can be repaid as the stock price increases, but if the price drops, brokers may call for the stock to be sold to settle the loan.

Soberick was sued for failing to liquidate the estate quickly enough when those calls began coming in. He has argued that the stock liquidation took place within a reasonable time and no one could have predicted the stock market would drop so precipitously.

Soberick’s lawyer, Arpiar Saunders, has asked the Rockingham County Probate Court to reconsider the decision.

David Wolowitz, the attorney for Bolduc’s parents who are the beneficiaries, said executors typically don’t have to rush to settle an estate. But he said several developments, including the calls for repayment of the loans, demanded quick action.

“This estate was on fire. This wasn’t just smoke, there were flames,” he said.

Wolowitz said Bolduc’s bequest was to be used to ensure his parents’ comfort in later years and to educate his nieces and nephews.

Bolduc, 48, was chancellor of the Manchester Diocese and one of the highest ranking Roman Catholic Church officials in New Hampshire when he died on Sept. 30, 2000.

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Information from: The Union Leader, http://www.theunionleader.com