Sisters’ sinful act

Two nuns stole money from Catholic school to fund gambling trips to Las Vegas.

LOS ANGELES: Two Catholic school nuns in California have admitted to embezzling about US$500,000 (RM2.1mil) and using the funds over the years for travel and gambling in Las Vegas.

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 PressTelegram 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.

Kreuper was principal at the school for 29 years until her retirement earlier this year.

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.

“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 Nov 28 letter from the school’s pastor, Monsignor Michael Meyers.

The letter states that Kreuper and Chang had taken a “substantial” amount of school funds for their personal use and the matter was uncovered during an audit conducted after 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 the police had been alerted.

Meyers said the school did not wish to pursue criminal proceedings against the pair, who spent decades as students’ moral enforcers.

Meyers told parents in his letter that the two sisters were cooperating with an investigation to determine the full amount of misappropriated funds. — AFP