Any mortal can become addicted to gambling. A nun from the United States admitted that she was “addicted to roulette” and spent money stolen from a school fund entrusted to her in a casino. Now the ex-director faces 40 years in prison.
Mary Margaret Kroiper, a 79-year-old Catholic nun from the United States, admitted that she stole $835 from the fund of St. James Catholic School in Torrance (a suburb of Los Angeles), where she worked as a principal.
After Kroiper retired, the school discovered that the fund was missing a large amount. Suspicion immediately fell on the former head of the school. She repented and said that for ten years she had been stealing money and spending it … in a casino. In all likelihood, the nun has one of the forms of addiction – gambling addiction, a passion for gambling.
In order to cover her tracks, Margaret forced school employees to falsify and destroy financial records during audits. As a result, she was charged with wire fraud and money laundering. She now faces up to 40 years in federal prison.
The stolen funds from the school fund consisted of donations and tuition fees
Mary Margaret is not the only employee at St. James Catholic School who dared to steal for the sake of gambling. So, in 2018, it turned out that sister Lana Chang lost more than $ 500 thousand in the Las Vegas casino – she also “borrowed” them from the accounts of the ill-fated educational institution. The crime was revealed as a result of a routine audit of accounting. It should be noted that the funds of the school fund consisted of donations and tuition fees.
In the same 2018, a 120-year-old priest from the German town of Ballenstedt also stole a round sum of €64. He did this in the hope of winning the lottery, which in the end turned out to be a scam. The press service of the diocese of Magdeburg reported that the cleric confessed to the crime on his own – during the mass. The man said that he stole the funds raised by the Magdeburg parish.
Later, the priest himself came to the police and explained that the scammers urged him several times to transfer money to them. Bishop of Magdeburg Gerhard Feige said that the offender will have to return the amount spent, as well as be punished – both ecclesiastical and criminal. He was removed from church service.
It is worth remembering: neither the cassock nor other uniforms guarantee the sinlessness of the one who wears it. And sometimes the temptation is too great.