Catholic nuns in England have committed the cardinal sin of greed — by lying to officials in an attempt to cash in on the sale of their convent, authorities said.

The Sisters of the Holy Cross, in the village of Chalfont St Peter, sold their property in 2010 for $38 million to a developer who plans to convert it to 150 new homes, The Sun reported Friday.

But the parish council for the small village – which opposed the sale because it would lose school sports fields – claim the nuns purposely misled local planning officials in order to win approval for the sale.

The council alleges that the nuns insisted that three acres of their property hadn’t been used as sports fields, which the council says is not true.

“This challenge alleges the Sisters fraudulently conspired to misrepresent the historic use of the school playing fields,” a council spokesman told The Sun.

The sisters were hauled before a High Court judge Monday and tried to get the case dismissed.

But the judge refused to toss the case.

“I cannot say that the parish council has no real prospect of succeeding on this issue,” said Master Richard Davison, of the Queen’s Bench Division.

A spokesman for the nuns said they were “disappointed” by the judge’s decision, but vowed to fight on.

“The parish council’s allegations are rejected in full and we will proceed to defend the claim robustly,” the spokesman said.

The nuns are represented by London law firm Farrer & Co, which has worked for the royal family, according to The Times of London.