Kreuper took fellow nuns on some of those trips and spent thousands of the primary school's money. As soon as she was confronted, she accepted full responsibility for what she had done and she has cooperated completely with law enforcement and the archdiocese, the statement said, adding that she has been suffering from a mental illness that clouded her judgment. Maybe if she had used her poker face to see more success in Vegas, she wouldnt have been in this position to begin with. Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, of Los Angeles, was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to pay $825,338 in restitution. var znscr = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; The rich uncle was the parents of the St. James students., The school monsignor has since sent out a letter in which the nuns asked that i convey to you the deep remorse they each feel for their actions and ask for your forgiveness and prayers.. Maryland man, 52, sues bar over ban cause he was old Missouri daughter secretly donates kidney to ailing dad. This large chunk of stolen money came as the St. James Catholic School was operating under tight budgets with small concerns that the finances could not continue to keep the door open. The two announced their retirement at the same time and were on their way out in 2018. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, of Los Angeles, was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering on Tuesday for defrauding St. James Catholic School over a period of 10 years. The school soon had a change of heart following pushback. Eric Rassbach of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, who is representing the schools before the court, disagrees. Other parents remarked it was well-known that Kreuper and Chang traveled often and went gambling, with the two women claiming they were gifted the trips by a rich relative. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, who took a vow of poverty, begged a judge to show her mercy and spare her prison, saying: "I have sinned, I've broken the law and I have no excuses." She called her crimes a "violation of my vows, my commandments, the law and, above all, the sacred trust that so many had placed in me". They added that "later in her life, she has been suffering from a mental illness that clouded her judgment and caused her to do something that she otherwise would not have done.. Her embezzlement activities took place from about 2008-2018. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, admitted stealing the money from St James Catholic School in the L.A. suburb of Torrance, where she was school principal for nearly 30 years. Church officials said they did not wish to press charges against the sisters, who both expressed remorse. (deployads = window.deployads || []).push({}); (function() { Ive used this to teach my son that were all human, we all make mistakes, but the power of forgiveness is the most powerful tool that we have.. Kreuper did not recognize she had a gambling problem until she was accused of embezzling more than $835,000 from the school, Byrne said. Kreuper, who pleaded guilty last summer to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II to pay more than $825,000 in restitution. The account was opened in 1997 but had not been used in years, until Sister Mary Margaret started diverting checks into the forgotten account. "I wanted to face them. At least, thats where they caught her. She was the principal and had been colluding with longtime teacher Sister Lana Chang on the operation, per the Daily Breeze. She just enjoyed gambling, he said. The 80-year-old nun pleaded for mercy after stealing $835,339 from an elementary Catholic school to fund her gambling addiction.. Claiming mental illness at her age is a play for probation or the ability to serve her sentence at home. Prosecutors had recommended a 24-month prison sentence, three years of . Kumar said the nuns instruction to the auditors sparked suspicion, and they reported the incident to Msgr. In June 2021, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper admitted to embezzling $835,000 from the Catholic school where she served as principal for 28 years. The archdiocese of Los Angeles said in statement that the community of faith at St James was shocked and saddened by these actions and expressed gratitude to local and federal law enforcement agencies for their work in the investigation of this matter. Kreuper, who took vows of poverty at age 18 and spent 59 years in the religious order, said in her plea agreement that she had begun diverting money from the schools tuition and donation account to a savings account that funded the living expenses of the nuns who worked at the school and then used some of the money herself. Kreuper originally pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering back in 2021. But Fisher notes that the schools in these cases do not claim any religious reason for firing the teachers. Instead, the school's principal, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, was stealing the money and using it to bankroll her gambling habit, federal prosecutors said, violating her vow of poverty. The pair confessed to using the funds for gambling excursions to Las Vegas and other spending sprees. At the sentencing hearing, those who spoke were split on their feelings toward the nun and what she had done. ", Church says nuns embezzled from SoCal school to cover Vegas gambling tripswww.youtube.com. Well, Sister Mary Margaret didnt quite stay true to her vow. His wife, he said, drove into their driveway "in tears bawling hysterically. When first confronted, Mr Kumar said, the nun claimed she "did it in part because she believes priests get paid better than nuns". The 80-year-old nun also was ordered to pay a total of. She was also entrusted with overseeing the St. James Covenant Account, a savings account that funded the living expenses of the nuns who worked at the school, the indictment against her states. Monday's case, however, does not involve trained and ordained ministers of the faith. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. According to prosecutors, Kreuper admitted that she falsified monthly and annual reports to the school administration to cover up her fraudulent conduct and lulled St James School and the administration into believing that the schools finances were being properly accounted for and its financial assets properly safeguarded, which, in turn, allowed defendant Kreuper to maintain her access and control of the schools finances and accounts and, thus, continue operating the fraudulent scheme.. 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79,of Los Angeles, was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, She defrauded St. James Catholic Schoolover a period of 10 years, As principal, Kreuper had been in charge of the school's credit union account, where she was meant to deposit cash and checks from tuition, fees and donations, Also implicated in the scheme was Lana Chang, who worked as a teacher at St. James before becoming vice principal, Nun, 79, STOLE $835,000 from Catholic school over 10 years to fund her gambling trips, Teenage boy shot friend, 15, in face with his grandad's shotgun after 'being repeatedly humiliated and bullied by him', Apple pie could be CANCELED after writer links treat to genocide and cultural appropriation, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have 'done nothing but seek publicity' since leaving UK, former Palace aide claims, Woman, 21, records terrifying moment Uber driver relentlessly pesters her for sex despite her telling him 'no', Inside Bidens 30million G7 ring of steel with warships, The Beast & 400 Secret Service agents watching his every move, Murder probe scuppered after alligator makes off with dead body found floating in river, JBSA Lackland put on lockdown after shooting outside Air Force base in San Antonio. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, a former principal at St James Catholic School in Torrance, California, used tuition fees and donations to subsidize casino gambling expenses and credit card payments, the authorities said. Though he acknowledges that the teachers taught religion from a workbook about three hours a week, Fisher says these teachers were "primarily lay employees" teaching "secular subjects. Image Via Scott Varley/Digital First Media/ Torrance Daily Breeze via Getty Images. A retired nun has admitted to embezzling $835,000 over 10 years from a Catholic school in California to fund her gambling habit, according to federal prosecutors. Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana have expressed to me and asked that I convey to you, the deep remorse they each feel for their actions and ask for your forgiveness and prayers, Meyers wrote in a letter to parents on Nov. 28. Bank records show Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang had been embezzling funds from St. James Catholic School in Torrance for at least a decade, the Press-Telegram reported. Kreuper, he said, quoting an expert, was addicted to gambling, adding that it "is not an excuse for what she did merely an explanation". Asking for the nun to be spared from prison, her lawyer Mark Byrne told the court she has been kept under "severe restrictions" at a convent by the nuns in her order. Recap: Court Weighs Whether Religious Schools Can Fire Lay Workers, Listen Live: Supreme Court Arguments Schedule, Top 5 Moments From The Supreme Court's 1st Week Of Livestreaming Arguments, Fervor Vs Compromise At Supreme Court Birth Control Arguments, Supreme Court Arguments A Tech Success, But Format Strangles Usual Give-And-Take, Supreme Court Considers Anti-Prostitution Pledge In HIV/AIDS Funding Case. The principal allegedly withheld some of the checks and deposited them into the other account, endorsing the back with a stamp that read, St. German cardinal offers to resign over sexual abuse catastrophe, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. All rights reserved. It's just that you have to look and see what kind of function are they doing.". American sister stole money from accounts she controlled as a headteacher and used it to pay off credit card charges and "large gambling expenses incurred at casinos". Despite the ongoing thefts, financial statements revealed the church continuing to operate in the black as the two sisters clandestinely plowed through church funds. Kreuper was principal at the school for 28 years. Now, nearly three years later, she faces up to 40 years in prison and will appear in the Federal District Court in Los Angeles on July 1. St.James Catholic School caught embezzling $500K for personal use, including gambling as church declines to press charges. At the heart of this dispute is the First Amendment ban on government establishment of religion and the separation of church and state. Sister Mary Margaret was caught in 2018. However, around the same time, a family at the school asked for an old check they had written to St. James. She is expected to report to prison by June, Byrne said, and will be released in 2023. Chief Justice John Roberts announced the opinion from the bench, noting that the teacher who brought the case was not a lay teacher. He argued that while the money she stole might have affected the schools funding, her actions didnt decrease the quality of education students received at St. James. I have sinned, I have broken the law and I have no excuses, Kreuper told the judge during her hearing, according to the Los Angeles Times. "You don't want the government deciding who teaches religion we don't do that in this country that's why we have an establishment clause," says Rassbach. Each time, Kreuper had the same response to the community, according to the Times: How do you expect to pay for it? All the while, Kreuper spoke openly about her gambling trips, saying her vice principals wealthy relatives funded the casino excursions to Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe, prosecutors say. Meyers reported it to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, who hired their own auditor. Police will still present the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office, NBC reported. A Los Angeles nun jailed for stealing more than $800,000 to fund a gambling habit has admitted "I have sinned". She doesn't have any money. Parents said the two nuns were big on moral. Mr Kumar said that jealousy played a part, calling the episode "really an abuse of position of trust". In the process, Kreuper falsified monthly and annual reports to the St. James administration to cover up her fraudulent conduct and lulled St. James School and the Administration into believing that the schools finances were being properly accounted for and its financial assets properly safeguarded, which, in turn, allowed defendant Kreuper to maintain her access and control of the schools finances and accounts and, thus, continue operating the fraudulent scheme, according to court documents. Local 10 Newsreported Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang of St.James Catholic School(both retiring earlier this year) using money from the schools funds to live a life of luxury over the last ten years. In December of that year, fraud allegations emerged against her and another nun, Sister Lana Chang, who had taught at the school. Parents and alumni of St. James told KTTV-TV in late 2018 that they hoped the school followed through with pursuing criminal complaints against Kreuper and Chang. Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana were in the clear. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty. Ultimately, he argues, the schools consider the teachers to be performing an important religious function, and therefore, they can be fired for any reason because they are not subject to the nation's fair employment laws. After taking a vow of poverty, her excuse for lavish gambling expenses is hilarious. Since 2014, The Marshall Project has been curating some of the best criminal justice reporting from around the web. Earlier in June, the former principal of St. James School was charged with wire fraud and money laundering. She wanted more than she had.. Southern California authorities have revealed two nuns allegedly embezzling up to $500K which was parlayed into gambling jaunts in Las Vegas. Her husband, Darryl Biel, remembers that day vividly. In a statement to the Washinton Post her attorneys, Mark A. Byrne and Daniel V. Nixon, said she is very remorseful and sorry for any harm she has caused.. A spokesperson with St. James did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. He had planned to be in Washington for Monday's argument. 15 Episodes of Seinfeld That Teach Everything You Need To Know About Life. Yes, a Nun Has Admitted to Embezzling $835,000 from a Catholic School Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper has been charged with wire fraud and money laundering for her role in a scheme to defraud a. The scheme was uncovered during an audit after Kreuper retired in 2018. Dan Mac Guill is a former writer for Snopes. She really didnt stay true to it at all, actually. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, who worked as the school principal for 28 years, and Sister Lana Chang, a teacher at the school for 20 years, reportedly bilked the funds over a period of at least a decade, the Press-Telegram reported. She is looking forward to getting on with life and will get treatment for her gambling addiction, he said. We've received your submission. Make sure you see our stories daily directly to your inbox. Kreuper belongs to the order of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. However, the church chose not to press charges against the two nuns. Those reports were accurate, and we are issuing a rating of "True.". If these teachers are exempt, he adds, then millions of employees are automatically exempt from laws enacted by Congress to protect workers, simply because they perform some duty their employer considers religious. But, Fisher counters, that "this isn't something you measure with a stopwatch." The Torrance Police Department, the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation into the allegations against Kreuper. This was a manifestation of greed, Kumar said, adding that the nun had abused the trust of the community. Local 10 News reported Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang of St.James Catholic School (both retiring earlier this year) using money from the school's funds to live a life of luxury over the last ten years. By Megan Carpentier. (RELATED: Nuns Allegedly Stole Catholic School Funds For Years: Report). Were those functions to be considered ministerial, Fisher says, the results would be dire. As principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, she certainly did but while also embezzling more than $835,000 in funds to support her secretive gambling habit. On. Nuns should realize that just by living their lives and living the way they do and treating people the way they do, they affect children for the rest of their lives, the judge said, according to the Los Angeles Times. This material may not be reproduced without permission. "These teachers taught the Catholic faith to these kids more than the parish priest," putting them squarely within the so-called ministerial exception, he says. Kreuper became principal at St. James Catholic School in 1990, a position she held for 28 years until her retirement in September 2018. We do know that they had a pattern of going on trips, we do know they had a pattern of going to casinos, and the reality is, they used the account as their personal account, Marge Graf, an attorney representing St. James, told a group of parents at a meeting in 2018. 2023 Blaze Media LLC. While claiming to live financially destitute like Jesus Christ is probably blasphemous, using the old Im poor, but my uncle is rich line and getting away with it speaks to Sister Mary Margarets impressive poker face. ", "Just as teaching science out of a fifth-grade textbook doesn't make them scientists, teaching religion for 40 minutes a day out of a workbook doesn't make them ministers," he says. For more information about our use of cookies, our collection, use, and disclosure of personal information generally, and any rights you may have to access, delete, or opt out of the sale of your personal information, please view our, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Investigators described a system in which Kreuper handled all checks made out to the school for tuition and fees before handing them over to bookkeeping staff for processing. She betrayed the trust of people in the community, the parents, students, the archdiocese and the sisters. Kreuper, 79, was charged Tuesday with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, and in a plea agreement pleaded guilty to both charges, the Associated Press reported. })(); Adriana Kuch attackers identified on social media in planned attack, St Louis execution shooting of homeless man: arrest made, Karen calls cops on black men shovelling snow for free outsider her home, Idaho murder suspect had multiple photos of female victim on phone, Torrance Catholic school nuns steal $500K for gambling habit- church resists charges. Sister Mary Margaret became a nun when she turned 18 in 1960 and took a vow of poverty. Her attorney said Kreuper will be on supervised release for two years once her prison sentence is complete. As principal, Kreuper had been in charge of the school's credit union account, where she was meant to deposit cash and checks from tuition, fees and donations. In June 2021, several local, national, and international news outlets reported that a nun in California had admitted, and was preparing to plead guilty to, embezzling $835,000 from the Catholic school she ran for three decades. zergnet.type = 'text/javascript'; zergnet.async = true; She would endorse the checks with a stamp saying St. G7 summit - Biden brings 1.2m Cadillac The Beast but will it fit down Cornwalls tiny country lanes. We use cookies to better understand website visitors, for advertising, and to offer you a better experience. The exception extends to religiously affiliated institutions when they fire employees who serve in a religious capacity akin to that of a minister. We do know that they had a pattern of going on trips. Poonam Kumar, the assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California who prosecuted the case, told The Washington Post that Kreuper had diverted checks and cash from St. James parents into a long-overlooked church account to pay for large gambling expenses incurred at casinos and certain credit-card charges. The actions were done before the money could be accounted for, displaying repetitive and deceptive behavior, over and over again, the prosecutor said. These nuns took a vow of poverty and said, oh no, weve got a rich uncle, one parent told the Press-Telegram. Her husband, Darryl Biel, remembers that day vividly. Kreuper retired as principal of St. James' Catholic School in 2018, after holding that position for 28 years. 5 Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, of Los Angeles, was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering Credit: KCAL 9 5 66 is still a fairly competent age. 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