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. "I wanted to face them. She was the principal and had been colluding with longtime teacher Sister Lana Chang on the operation, per the Daily Breeze. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. The Archdiocese appears to have now changed course-with ABC Newsreporting a criminal case may now be in the works following deepening investigations. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering after she admitted to investigators that she embezzled hundreds of thousands of. Instead of sitting in the Supreme Court chamber, though, Biel, like the rest of us, will be at home listening. Officials said Kreuper 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.. Were those functions to be considered ministerial, Fisher says, the results would be dire. James School, before tapping the funds for personal use. "She doesn't have anywhere to go," he said. Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in July to federal wire fraud and money laundering charges. When this was going on, she was not nearly as old. 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. Parents said the two nuns were big on moral. 2022 Blaze Media LLC. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, was sentenced on Monday to 12 months and one day in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II and ordered to pay $825,338 in restitution to the St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California . The Rev. At least I hope you do.. The sisters, described as best friends, both retired earlier this year. 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. The account was opened in 1997 but had not been used in years, until Sister Mary Margaret started diverting checks into the forgotten account. The embezzlement helped to fuel her gambling habit. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images). She claimed that the salary differential between nuns and priests meant she was owed this money, which is inconsistent with the vow of poverty she took.. Mary Kreuper: Nun who stole $835,000 to fund gambling habit admits 'I have sinned', Sister Mary Kreuper embezzled more than 600,000 from the school where she worked. James Convent, not St. In a statement to The Washington Post, Kreupers lawyers said she is very remorseful and sorry for any harm she has caused. But Fisher counters that function can't be the only criterion because many employers at religiously affiliated institutions sincerely believe that all of their employees perform important ministerial functions, from nurses who care for the sick, to summer camp counselors for troubled teenagers, and athletic coaches who mold the character of their charges and often lead them in prayer. Kreuper is due in court on 1 July and faces up to 40 years in federal prison. On. But. In the audio, as well as in a previous Web version, of this story, we incorrectly say the fourth-grade teacher in a 2012 case was ordained as a minister. As a Catholic nun, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty. Kreuper belongs to the order of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. (Shutterstock) LOS ANGELES, CA The retired principal of a Catholic . She was so hurt that they could be doing this to her.". Kreuper took fellow nuns on some of those trips and spent thousands of the primary school's money. ", Church says nuns embezzled from SoCal school to cover Vegas gambling tripswww.youtube.com. It's very disturbing. Southern California authorities have revealed two nuns allegedly embezzling up to $500K which was parlayed into gambling jaunts in Las Vegas. She, too, retired in 2018. Kreuper was 18 years old when she took her vow of poverty, according to her lawyers, and spent the next 59 years of her life dedicated to the church. The two announced their retirement at the same time and were on their way out in 2018. The vow leads a nun to imitate Jesus, who for our sake became poor, although he was rich. Around the same time, a St. James parent asked question at a school meeting about an old tuition check that had an endorsement on the back of check that did not line up with the schools primary account, the prosecutor said. 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. Kreuper signed the plea agreement, which Snopes has obtained and which can be read in full here, on June 2, 2021. Copyright 2008-2023 BroBible. BroBible is the #1 place on the internet for the very best content from the worlds of sports, culture, gear, high tech, and more. In her plea agreement, Sister Mary Margaret confirmed that the stolen money was used for credit card charges and large gambling expenses incurred at casinos. the U.S. attorneys office said. The 80-year-old nun pleaded for mercy after stealing $835,339 from an elementary Catholic school to fund her gambling addiction.. Kreuper was principal at the school for 28 years. At Monday's argument, Stanford law professor Jeff Fisher, who is representing the teachers, will tell the justices that by the terms of the teachers' contracts and the school handbooks, these teachers were hired to teach academic subjects. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, of Los Angeles, was sentenced Monday to one year and one day for fraud and money laundering charges. "Requiring a church to accept or retain an unwanted minister or punishing a church for failing to do so intrudes upon more than a mere employment decision," Roberts said. Jaclyn Peiser contributed to this report. My actions were in violation of my vows, my commandments, the law and, above all, the sacred trust that so many had placed in me. 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. This was a manifestation of greed, Kumar said, adding that the nun had abused the trust of the community. According to prosecutors, Kreuper had stolen whats estimated to have been the tuition for 14 students at the K-8 school in funds that were intended to further the students education, not fund [Kreupers] lifestyle., When confronted, the defendant admitted to stealing the money, Kumar said. 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. At the heart of this dispute is the First Amendment ban on government establishment of religion and the separation of church and state. They say she also instructed employees at the school to alter and destroy financial records during a school audit, investigators found. Its an explanation.. The Greatest Food Debates Of All Time, Answered Pineapple On Pizza? But, Fisher counters, that "this isn't something you measure with a stopwatch." Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper used tuition fees and donations to a California Catholic school to subsidize her casino expenses. It was only after she vacated her position that school officials unearthed her fraudulent scheme. Kreuper admitted embezzling about $835,000 (616,000) in donations, tuition and fee money between 2008 and 2018. 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. "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. A federal appeals court ruled against the schools, which appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. They dont want you to see this Big Tech does its best to limit what news you see. Mark Byrne, Kreupers attorney, told The Post his client had accepted the judges one-year prison sentence, even if they were pushing for probation. 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. Kreuper falsified monthly and annual reports to cover up her crime and asked school employees to alter and destroy financial records during an audit. Image Via Scott Varley/Digital First Media/ Torrance Daily Breeze via Getty Images. Nun who stole $835K from school to fund gambling habit is going to prison: I have sinned, Carolyn Hax: Boyfriends visits leave single mom with no time for herself, Miss Manners: What to do when a fellow diner was rude to server. Trust shouldnt be broken like that., Others, such as Kevin Kearns, whose son had gone to the school, said the nun had put the students and parents above everything else., The church tells us to forgive those who have trespassed against us, Kearns said. Sister Mary Margaret was caught in 2018. She would endorse the checks with a stamp saying St. The second suit was brought by Kristen Biel against St. James School in Torrance. 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. Kumar said the nuns instruction to the auditors sparked suspicion, and they reported the incident to Msgr. The sisters later confessed to using the funds for themselves. She then used some of the funds to pay for "large gambling expenses incurred at casinos and certain credit card charges.. 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.. Well, Sister Mary Margaret didnt quite stay true to her vow. Michael Meyers, the churchs monsignor, said Kreuper was very nervous and anxious during the audit and she reportedly asked staff members to change school records. She spent the next 59 years of her life dedicated to the church, they said. 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. 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. You can be proud of that, he said. He added, Its not meant as an excuse. This is because, as part of the plea deal, the prosecutors have agreed to recommend to the court an "offense level" of 25 for Kreuper's crimes, and will further advise the court to reduce that to 23, or even 22. Of course, at 79, the likelihood that Sister Mary Margaret will see any jail time is relatively slim. The Los Angeles native embezzled more than $835,000 from the Catholic school in Torrance, Calif., where she was principal to pay for 10 years of personal expenses, including her many gambling trips to Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe, according to federal prosecutors. However, the church chose not to press charges against the two nuns. When staff members finally found the check, they realized that it was not deposited in a St. James account, but a different bank account. Mary Margaret Kreuper of Los Angeles was sentenced to one year and a day in prison after pleading guilty in July 2021 to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, according. Jon Jones Reacts To Islam Makhachev Declaring Himself The Best Fighter In The World, Shavkat Rakhmonov Reacts To ESPN/UFC Commentator Laura Sanko Thirsting Over Him In Viral Video, Jon Jones First Shirtless Pic At Heavyweight Before UFC 285 Goes Viral, Ja Morants Lawyer, Agent Threaten Legal Recourse For Defamatory Report From The Washington Post, Another Glitch In The Matrix Has Occurred As A Bird Is Filmed Motionless In Mid-Air, Bengals Exec Sends Harsh Wake-Up Call To Teams Sniffing Around Tee Higgins. 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. Her husband said that in her final days, the couple talked extensively about the case. But this week, prosecutors said Sister Mary Margaret, 79, had agreed to plead guilty to stealing more than. Wright acknowledged in court that while he struggled to judge Kreuper, a decorated principal, on the worst thing that shes done in her life, the impact nuns have on young people in leading by example is crucial and the nuns actions gambled away that guiding principle. 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. The first teacher, Agnes Morrissey-Berru, claimed her employment contract was not renewed after 16 years service because of illegal age discrimination. For decades, lower courts have recognized an exception to the nation's employment laws for ministers. I promised her I would see this through," he says. That was the first clue that unraveled a significant scheme. Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana were both Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. Starting in 2008, Kreuper diverted school funds to pay for expenses that the order would not have approved, much less paid for, prosecutors say. Shes very, very remorseful and very ashamed, he said. 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. But the court's eventual decision could reach beyond teachers, affecting the lives of millions of other employees who work for religiously affiliated institutions. They and their Order pray that you have not lost trust or faith in the educators and administrators of the school. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty. "She's 80. Julija Garunkstis, a St. James mother who attended the school between 2005 and 2014, said Kreuper had shaken her faith. 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. These nuns took a vow of poverty and said, Oh no, weve got a rich uncle, parent Jack Alexander said. It is "telling," in these cases, he says, that the "teachers did not even have to be Catholic to have these jobs.". When Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper became a nun, she took vows to live as Jesus did through chastity, obedience and service to the poor, sick and uneducated. Maybe if she had used her poker face to see more success in Vegas, she wouldnt have been in this position to begin with. 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. Rather, he said, she is religiously trained and a commissioned minister of the church. There is another, and rather rich, twist to one of the cases before the court Monday. , the church St. Joseph of Carondelet a rich uncle, parent Jack Alexander said on June 2,.! 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