Two nuns admit embezzling $500k for Vegas blowouts

Two nuns at a Catholic school in California have admitted embezzling around half a million dollars in donations to fund gambling trips to Las Vegas, according to their church.

Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang were “involved in the personal use of a substantial amount” of school funds over a “period of years”, the pastor of St James Catholic School, in the coastal city of Torrance, wrote in a letter to parents.

The fraudulent activity was reportedly uncovered earlier this year, at about the same time that Kreuper announced she was retiring, after the family of a pupil asked for a copy of an old cheque they had written to the school.

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When staff members found the cheque, they noticed it had been deposited in a bank account that was not linked to the school.

Further searches by school officials revealed that the two nuns, who taught at the school for decades, had stolen around $500,000 (£400,000) in the form of tuition fees and donations, a letter to parents said.

And that figure “represents only what auditors have been able to trace in six years of bank records and might not include other cash transactions”, says ABC News.

Parents of pupils told local media that the two women often visited Las Vegas and casinos.

According to the school pastor, the nuns feel “deep remorse and asked for forgiveness”.

The archdiocese has chosen not to press charges against the pair and will instead “address the situation internally through the investigation, restitution and sanctions on the sisters”, CNN reports.