LOS ANGELES: 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.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles said the missing money was discovered during a routine audit and it is believed the nuns had stolen the money over at least a decade.
Kreuper was a former principal at the school where she worked for 20 years until her retirement earlier this year. Chang was a teacher for 20 years and she also retired this year, according to local media reports.
“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 reportedly informed about the nuns’ misdeeds earlier this month.
Though police have been alerted, the Archdiocese has said it does not plan to seek criminal charges against the pair, who spent decades as students’ moral enforcers.
“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,” the Press-Telegram quoted an attorney telling parents and alumni at a recent meeting.
The nuns allegedly got away with their crime by depositing some checks made out to the school for tuition and other fees into a bank account different than the one used by the school.
“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,” Michael Meyers, the school’s pastor, said in a letter to parents.
“They and their order pray that you have not lost trust or faith in the educators and administrators of the school. Let us pray for our school families and for Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana.”
California nuns stole schools funds for Vegas gambling, travel
California nuns stole schools funds for Vegas gambling, travel
- The nuns allegedly got away with their crime by depositing some checks made out to the school for tuition and other fees into a bank account
Afghan government says Pakistan strikes Kabul and border provinces
- A Pakistani security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Pakistan struck overnight
- Islamabad last month launched a wave of air strikes on its neighbor, an operation it says is targeting militancy
KABUL: Afghan authorities said on Friday that Pakistan had carried out new strikes on Kabul and border provinces, killing four people in the capital.
A Pakistani security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Pakistan struck overnight, adding their forces targeted the Pakistani Taliban militant group, known as TTP.
Islamabad last month launched a wave of air strikes on its neighbor, an operation it says is targeting militancy following growing attacks in Pakistan.
But the Taliban government has denied any involvement or the use of Afghan territory for militancy.
Khalil Zadran, the spokesman for Kabul police, said four people had been killed and 15 wounded in the bombardment that hit homes in the capital, with women and children among the victims.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid posted on X that Pakistani strikes also hit the southern province of Kandahar, as well as eastern Paktia and Paktika, which border Pakistan.
In Kandahar, which is home to the administration’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, air strikes hit a fuel depot for airline Kam Air, near the airport.
This company supplies fuel to civilian airlines and United Nations aircraft.
Pakistan insists it has not killed any civilians in the conflict. Casualty claims from both sides are difficult to verify independently.
Afghan and Pakistani forces have also clashed repeatedly at the border in recent weeks, hampering trade and forcing nearby residents to leave their homes.
‘Open war’
The United Nations’ mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has said that 56 civilians have been killed in Afghanistan, including 24 children, by Pakistani military operations between February 26 and March 5.
About 115,000 people were forced to leave their homes, according to the UN refugee agency.
Fighting between the two countries intensified on February 26, when Afghanistan launched an offensive along the frontier, in retaliation for earlier Pakistani air strikes targeting the TTP.
Pakistan then declared “open war” against the Taliban authorities, bombing the capital, Kabul, on February 27.
Since then, clashes have increased in border regions, including overnight Wednesday to Thursday that the Afghan authorities said killed four members of the same family in Khost province.
The Taliban government said on Thursday that four members of the same family, including two children, were killed by Pakistani artillery and mortar fire in eastern Afghanistan.
Seven people had been killed in Afghanistan since Tuesday as a result of cross-border clashes between the two sides, according to the authorities in Kabul.
Deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said the latest deaths happened early Thursday in the village of Sadqo in Khost province, accusing Pakistan of deliberately targeting civilian homes and nomads’ tents.
