A former nun was last week ordered by a judge to pay back $970,123 that she received from investors between 2009 and 2011 to manage a casino project in D'Iberville, Mississippi. Sandra Manno, the mayor of Marlton, New Jersey in the 1970s, who reportedly helped legalize gambling in the state, used money for The CanCan Casino Resort and Spa project (expected to open in December this year) to enrich herself, her family, and their friends through generous compensation.
"At one point, CanCan was paying the Manno family $70,000 per month, along with Sandra Manno's expenses," wrote SunHerald reporter Mary Perez. "Manno used the CanCan debit card to withdraw nearly $100,000 from ATMs in less than two years from September 2009 to March 2011, the documents show, and withdrew more than $285,000 in cash while managing the project."
The judge wrote in his opinion: "Sandra Manno has excelled at coming up with concepts for new casinos. She also has a talent for convincing early-stage investors to back her ideas. But she has failed at moving her ventures beyond the concept stage. In addition to lacking the requisite management skills, Manno loves living large. It may be that some degree of flash and pizzazz is necessary to succeed in the casino business, but Manno's ventures have misallocated their seed capital to expensive meals, luxury hotels, first-class travel and premature marketing activities."
source: SunHerald
