Naughty nuns
Source: Felix Koutchinski on Unsplash
Two nuns admit embezzling $500,000 for Las Vegas gambling trips
Two Catholic school nuns in California have admitted to *embezzling about $500,000 and using the funds over the years for travel and gambling in Las Vegas, their order said on Monday.Sisters Mary Margaret Kreuper and Lana Chang, who are said to be best friends, took the money from tuition, fees and donations at St James Catholic School in Torrance, south of Los Angeles.
"We do know that they had a pattern of going on trips. We do know they had a pattern of going to casinos, and the reality is, they used the account as their personal account," an attorney for the school told parents and alumni at a recent meeting, the Press-Telegram reported.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles said the missing money was discovered during a routine audit and it is believed the nuns operated their scheme over at least a decade.
Ms Kreuper was principal at the school for 29 years until her retirement earlier this year. Ms Chang was a teacher for 20 years and she also retired this year.
"Our community is concerned and saddened by this situation and regret any injury to our long relationship with the families of the school," the Sister of St Joseph of Carondelet, the nuns' order, said in a statement sent to AFP. "The Sisters of St Joseph both desire and intend to make complete restitution to St. James School."
Parents were informed about the nuns' misdeeds in a November 28 letter from the school's pastor, Monsignor Michael Meyers.
The letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, states that Ms Kreuper and Ms Chang had taken a "substantial" amount of school funds for their personal use and the matter was uncovered during an audit conducted after Ms Kreuper's retirement.
"Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana have expressed to me and asked that I convey to you, the deep remorse they each feel for their actions and ask for your forgiveness and prayers," Meyers wrote. "They and their order pray that you have not lost trust or faith in the educators and administrators of the school."
He added that no other school staff were implicated in the theft and that police had been alerted.
Mr Meyers said the school did not wish to pursue criminal proceedings against the pair, who spent decades as students' moral enforcers.
However, Adrian Alarcon, the head of media relations for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, told AFP on Monday that the Archdiocese didn't want to just let the matter drop and planned to "become a complaining party."
The nuns allegedly got away with their crime by depositing some cheques made out to the school for tuition and other fees into a bank account different than the one used by the school.
Mr Meyers told parents in his letter that the two Sisters were cooperating with an investigation to determine the full amount of misappropriated funds.
"I want to assure you that the investigation has disclosed that, notwithstanding this misappropriation, no student or program at St James has suffered any loss of educational resources, opportunities, or innovations," he added. "In sum, the education of your children has not and will not be affected by these events."
Spotlight on Vocabulary:
Two Catholic school nuns in California have admitted to embezzling about $500,000.
Embezzle is when you steal money that belongs to the company or organisation that you work for,
Examples:
He is thought to have embezzled thousands of pounds from the charity.
They were arrested for the embezzlement of company funds.
Do you know any other cases of embezzlement?
Comments
I don´t want to be cruel.
This is a “peccadillo”. These two nuns are not naughty. They didn´t want to injury to families and students of St. James Catholic School in Torrance. Instead of it, they were investing their money in benefice of this School. After they got away to gamble in Las Vegas, they didn´t embezzle but they tried to bring profits to School. People didn´t understand them. Sometimes, they lost your money, but it wasn´t matter because they prayed and is anything better than to pray? Nothing. The devil was guilty because it beat them. They were learning to invest more than a decade in Las Vegas. Maybe it wasn´t enough to learn to bet. The School shouldn´t punish them for a waste of money of tuition, fees and donations because they asked for her forgiveness.
St James Catholic School didn’t punish this misdeed. Two Sisters felt remorse and Catholic School is concerned and saddened, therefore it´s enough. After it, forget the past and let bygones be bygones. These nuns got away without giving back $500.000.
Anyway, if these nuns were working in a private company, they were sacked but as they were working in Catholic School, they weren´t sacked. Of course, they must feel deep remorse. They were good luck.
Happy Hogmanay Mr. Teacher.
I hope that your 2019 has started well.
This is a “peccadillo”. These two nuns are not naughty. They didn´t want to hurt families and students of St. James Catholic School in Torrance. Instead, they were investing their money to benefit the school. After they went to Las Vegas to gamble, they didn´t embezzle but they tried to bring profits to to the school. People didn´t understand them. Sometimes, they lost money, but it didn't matter because they prayed and is there anything better than praying? Nothing. The devil was guilty because it beat them.
They spent more than a decade learning to invest in Las Vegas. Maybe it wasn´t enough to learn to bet. The School shouldn´t punish them for a waste of money of tuition, fees and donations because they asked for their forgiveness.
St James Catholic School didn’t punish this misdeed. Two Sisters felt remorse and the Catholic School is concerned and saddened, therefore it´s enough. Then, forget the past and let bygones be bygones. These nuns got away without giving back $500.000.
Anyway, if these nuns were working in a private company, they would be sacked but as they were working in a Catholic School, they weren´t sacked. Of course, they must feel deep remorse. They were very lucky.