Nuns Admit to Embezzling $500,00 for Gambling Trips

The two California nuns, now retired, have apologized for what they did.

Two Roman Catholic nuns, Sister Lana Chang and Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, have admitted to swiping $500,000 from St. James School[/tweetit], a parochial school located in Torrance, California. It is believed the two spent some portion of the embezzled funds on gambling activities in casinos and travel. The news of this financial cheating was made public by Monsignor Michael Meyers through a November 28 letter.

Nuns Admit to Embezzling $500,00 for Gambling Trips[/tweetthis]

The matter came to the notice of church officials when they did an audit pertaining to a change in school relationship. No other person was involved in this financial scam. Sister Mary Margaret was the school principal for 28 years before she took retirement in June. Sister Lana taught students studying the eighth grade at the concerned K-8 school for 20 years.

The content of the letter written by Meyers stated sadness to families of students studying in St. James School and informed them of the financial theft undertaken by the two nuns. The letter said there was an internal investigation and it was found the massive amount of money was siphoned off by the nuns over a number of years. The latter part of the content said both the Sisters, Lana and Mary Margaret, have expressed their regrets to Myers and both of them harbor a deep remorse for what they did. The two asked for prayers and forgiveness. The end of the letter asked the readers, presumably the parents of the students studying in the school, to not lose their faith in the administrators and educators of St. James School.

While the priest rape, the nuns embezzle. Keep shielding yourselves behind God.

— Diana Richards (@su_frida67) December 10, 2018

In the letter, Meyers described the embezzled sum as “substantial.” According to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the nuns blew the purloined money on gambling in casinos and travel. The theft was promptly reported to the Torrance Police Department. The school at first was not interested in pursuing any criminal proceedings against the nuns as they have already shown remorse. The school changed its position during the course of the investigation and are now considering the possibility of making a criminal case. According to Archdiocese officials, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, the orders from which the nuns came from, have cooperated in the investigations. They have consented to reimburse the school.

Resources

• Huffington Post
• ABC 13

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