Two nuns who worked as teachers won’t be charged over claims they embezzled $500,000 from an impoverished school to fund casino trips.

Last week, St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California announced Sister Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang ‘were involved in the personal use of a substantial amount of school funds.’

Both nuns were former school employees – Kreuper was the principal and Change was a teacher – with the pair telling parents the school was operating on a shoestring budget, officials and parents told the Daily Breeze.

Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper (Left) and Sister Lana Chang (Right) who allegedly embezzled from the school

(photo: KTLA)

But an attorney for the school claimed the sisters had blown some of the huge sum on gambling trips, saying: ‘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.’




Authorities were tipped off to the pair’s alleged theft after the church performed a routine audit ahead of Kreuper’s retirement after 28 years at the school.

Kreuper became ‘very nervous and very anxious’ about the financial review and asked staff to alter fiscal records, the monsignor, Michael Meyers said.

Meyers told an archdiocese internal auditor that ‘something was off’ and an independent forensic auditor was brought in for a deeper review.

That’s when auditors discovered a ‘long forgotten’ church bank account that only Kreuper and Chang knew about.

Kreuper, who handled the school’s tuition checks, had been depositing a portion of the checks into the secret account for up to ten years – endorsing the back with ‘St. James Convent,’ instead of the official ‘St. James School,’ title auditors said.

The pair of nuns allegedly stole $500,000 from the California school over the course of ten years (Photo: Google maps)

‘When (the auditor) was talking to Sister Mary Margaret, she did acknowledge that she had been taking all the money, so that’s not a question.’ Meyers said.

The internal review found that the nuns had been using the majority of the money for ‘personal gain.’

Following the investigation, the archdiocese announced that they would not press charges – although the nuns were removed to different, separate convents.

Archdiocese lawyer Marge Graf told outraged parents that the decision was made because the nuns’ order, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, agreed to repay the entire amount allegedly embezzled and impose ‘severe sanctions’ on the pair.

Two nuns allegedly stole $500,000 from the school they worked at – but won’t be charged (File Photo: AP)

However, a group of parents are considering coming together as a complaining party to Torrance police themselves in an attempt to prosecute the nuns.

‘We were an ATM, and people know it and they won’t ask for justice,’ Jack Alexander, one of the parents, told the South California news group.

‘They are trying to capture money, not get justice.’ he said.

So far, prosecutors said they have not been presented with a case from Torrance police.