LAS VEGAS (KTNV) – For many donors and animal welfare advocates, the name Kathy Jung goes hand in hand with suspicious spending and misuse of money.
Money for animals at the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Now, nearly two years after the Nevada attorney general began investigating allegations that first came to light, Jung is facing three charges of felony theft.
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Kathy Jung was president of the NSPCA for many years, leading shelter activities and controlling the money of the nonprofit.
While Jung solicited well-meaning donations for wayward animals, she reportedly diverted some of that money at her own expense.
She resigned along with the rest of her board in 2019 during an investigation by the attorney general.
“I stopped what I was doing and I lost my breath!” former NSPCA volunteer Chelsea Collins said of her reaction when we told her that Jung had been arrested.
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“We just waited for the day to hear this news,” Collins said. “We’ve all just waited for it.”
Collins and other former insiders helped whistle what happened behind the scenes at the shelter on Dewey Drive near Decatur Boulevard and Russell Road.
13 Investigates broke the story in November 2018.
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“The biggest concern started with the treatment of the animals there,” said Collins. “We were all shocked by the conditions of the shelter and the treatment of the animals – the neglect that was going on.”
Our research uncovered dilapidated conditions and broken promises at the shelter, from a leaking roof, to a roach and spider infestation, to sewer hoses running through dog kennels and volunteers severely damaged.
“There were some questions and suspicions about whether all this money was being donated, why wasn’t the shelter better maintained? Why were the animals not treated better?” Collins recalls.
Under Jung’s direction, the NSPCA withdrew money from fundraisers and donations for a new shelter that had been promised for years but never built.
The criminal investigation investigated non-animal related expenses on Jung’s NSPCA debit card, as well as cash withdrawals and cash irregularities.
Many checks written into the account of the NSPCA were signed and approved by Jung without receipts or backup documentation.
“We hope she ends up serving imprisonment,” said Collins. “Like you said – you found out she’s done this before, so she has a history.”
As we uncovered in our initial investigation, Jung is already a convicted criminal from a previous felony theft case in 2004 involving embezzlement by a car dealer where she worked as an inspector.
“She got to do it again this time under the guise of serving a charity, so yes, we would all like her to serve a prison term for this,” said Collins.
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“She has done a terrible wrong to those animals there,” she added. “We are so happy that they are now getting such better care with the new board and new management, but justice has yet to be served where Kathy Jung is involved.”
Lori Heeren, who took over as executive director of Nevada SPCA after Jung left, sent the following statement:
“This is part of our past; Ms. Jung has not been part of Nevada SPCA for two years. In those two years, we have worked very hard with new staff and a new board of directors to establish a standard of best practices. the area of every department here including our animal care and financial protocols. Today we are an organization that the community and our donors can be very proud of. ”
13 Investigates reached Kathy Jung’s attorney, Ira Levine, via email. When asked for comment, Levine said that he had not spoken to Ms. Jung in a while and that this was the first time he had heard about her arrest and charges.