CHARLESTON — Current and retired African Methodist Episcopal Church employees have found relief more than three years after they learned the organization’s pension manager siphoned tens of millions from their nest eggs.

The AME Church and retirement insurance company Newport Group settled two class action lawsuits on Aug. 18 in the U.S. District Court of Maryland for about $60 million. The move brings some closure to a $90 million financial scandal.

In January 2022, current and retired church employees learned that the tens of millions of their vested funds had vanished overnight. Months later, the church paused payments to retirees who then sued for the lost money. About 5,000 people were affected, The Post and Courier reported at the time.

The church’s pension included a promise for

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