A pair of gambling nuns are accused of stealing $500,000 to fund their Las Vegas trips. They’re now facing both scrutiny and possible legal consequences with their theft now uncovered.
Sisters Mary Margaret Kreuper and Lana Chang both worked at St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California. Kreuper, a former principal, and Chang, a teacher, would frequently go on Vegas trips together.
Of course, nuns don’t usually make the type of salaries that afford such lavish trips. It now appears that embezzled church money funded their excursions.
How were the Gambling Nuns Caught?
Sisters Kreuper and Chang proceeded to get away with their scam for years. According to the Long Beach Press-Telegram, St. James Catholic School only caught them after a check error.
School staffers examined a check that had been sent years earlier. They then realized that the check was deposited into a different bank account.
The nuns are now retired and may have thought they were going to get away with the decade-long scam. But the two best friends are now in hot water over the matter.
School Officials and Parents Meet
St. James officials and parents recently had a meeting to discuss the theft. They came to the conclusion that the nuns took tuition checks from parents, then diverted it into their personal account.
“We do know that they had a pattern of going on trips,” said Marge Graf, the school’s attorney.
“We do know they had a pattern of going to casinos. And the reality is, they used the account as their personal account.”
Parents knew about the lavish gambling trips the nuns were taking. However, the sisters claimed that the money came from a rich relative.
St. James confronted the nuns over the theft. They promptly admitted stealing the $500k and have now begged for forgiveness.
The order of the nuns that the sisters belong to have agreed to pay back the money. It’s unclear if they’ll also press charges at this time.