LAS VEGAS (KTNV) – For many donors and animal welfare advocates, the name Kathy Jung is associated with suspicious spending and misuse of money.
Money intended 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 13 investigators were first exposed, Jung faces three charges of criminal theft.
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Kathy Jung served as NSPCA president for many years, managing shelter operations and managing the organization’s money.
While Jung demanded well-intentioned donations for wayward animals, she allegedly diverted the money for her own expenses.
She resigned along with the rest of her board in 2019 amid a lawyer-general investigation.
“I stopped what I was doing and lost my breath!” former NSPCA volunteer Chelsea Collins said of her reaction when we told her Jung had been arrested.
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“We were just waiting for the day to hear this news,” Collins said. “We were all just waiting for it.”
Collins and other former insiders helped blow the whistle on what was going on behind the scenes at the shelter in Dewey Drive near Decatur Boulevard and Russell Road.
13 investigators broke the story in November of 2018.
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“The biggest concern started with treating the animals there,” Collins said. “We were all horrified by the conditions of the shelter and the treatment of the animals – the neglect that was going on.”
Our investigation revealed dilapidated conditions and broken promises in the shelter from a leaking roof to a cockroach and spider infestation, sewage hoses running through dog kennels and volunteers who were badly messed up.
“There were some questions and suspicions if all this money is donated, why is the shelter not kept better? Why are the animals not treated better?” Collins remembers.
Under Jung’s leadership, the NSPCA raised money from fundraisers and donations for a new shelter that was promised for years but never built.
In the criminal investigation, spending on Jung’s NSPCA debit card, as well as withdrawals from ATMs and petty irregularities, were investigated that were not related to animals.
Many checks written on the NSPCA’s account were signed and signed by Jung without receipts or backup documentation.
“Ultimately, we hope she’s serving her prison sentence,” Collins said. “As you pointed out, you discovered the fact that she’s done it before, so she has a history.”
As we revealed in our initial investigation, Jung is already a convicted criminal in 2004 for a case of theft against crimes of a car dealer where she worked as a controller.
“She was allowed to do it again under the guise of serving for a charity this time, so yes, we all want to see her serve her prison sentence for that,” Collins said.
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“She did a terrible injustice to those animals,” she added. “We are so pleased that they are now under the new management and the new management under such better care, but there must still be justice 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 the two years we have worked very hard with a new staff and a new board of directors to set a standard of best practices. “We are an organization that the community and our donors can be very proud of.”
13 investigators emailed Kathy Jung’s lawyer, Ira Levine. When asked for comment, Levine said he had not spoken to Jung for some time, and this was the first time he had heard of her arrest and charges.