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. Despite the ongoing thefts, financial statements revealed the church continuing to operate in the black as the two sisters clandestinely plowed through church funds. 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. She's obviously not employable.". Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, was charged Tuesday with wire fraud and money laundering for ripping off St. James Catholic School for a period of 10 years ending in September 2018, according to . Pic: St James Catholic School. She claimed that she was fired after she told her superior, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. 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.. It involves two fifth-grade teachers at Catholic schools in California. The sisters later confessed to using the funds for themselves. Kreuper pleaded guilty last July. A now-retired nun has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $800,000 from the St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, from 2008 to 2018, the last decade of her 28-year tenure as principal of the institution.Sister Kreuper who took a vow of poverty confessed to using the . The Daily Caller | 1775 Eye Street NW | Suite 1150-290 | Washington, DC 20006. "She doesn't have anywhere to go," he said. Similar articles were published by the Los Angeles Times, KTLA, and Unilad.co.uk. During his sentencing, Wright, a 2007 appointee under President George W. Bush, praised Kreuper for her tenure as one heck of a teacher at the school. They dont want you to see this Big Tech does its best to limit what news you see. The 79-year-old former nun pleaded guilty to federal charges for stealing more than $800,000 from St. James Catholic School earlier this month. Kreuper, who had taken a vow of poverty as a nun, worked as a principal at St. James Catholic School in Torrance for 28 years and allegedly embezzled the funds for 10 years until her retirement in 2018. This material may not be reproduced without permission. A federal judge sentenced Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, a nun and former Catholic school principal, to a year in prison for embezzling more than $835,000 from the school she ran to fund a more secular lifestyle including gambling trips. An 80-year-old nun who gambled away more than $835,000 in school funds was sentenced to twelve months and a day in federal prison Monday, according to a press release from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). US District Court Judge Otis Wright acknowledged his own anguish in deciding a punishment to fit the crime, saying "I haven't slept well in God knows how long" as he rejected prosecutors' call for a two-year sentence. It's very disturbing. The scheme was uncovered during an audit after Kreuper retired in 2018. German cardinal offers to resign over sexual abuse catastrophe, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Ultimately, "they are not people we understand to be spiritual leaders of the church.". 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. James School, before tapping the funds for personal use. Although, formally speaking, Kreuper could face a punishment of up to 40 years in prison, it's unlikely she will receive such a long sentence. But the court's eventual decision could reach beyond teachers, affecting the lives of millions of other employees who work for religiously affiliated institutions. Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering on Tuesday and has agreed to a plea deal, according to a release from the U.S. attorneys office for the Central District of California. News of the indiscretions led to the archdiocese and the church announcing they wouldnt file criminal charges against the nuns after apologizing for their actions. 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. 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 Church officials said they did not wish to press charges against the sisters, who both expressed remorse. 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. "She's 80. On Monday night, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles told parents and alumni at a meeting that Sisters Mary Margaret Kreuper and Lana Chang, described as best friends, took around $500,000 from St . Maybe if she had used her poker face to see more success in Vegas, she wouldnt have been in this position to begin with. St.James Catholic School caught embezzling $500K for personal use, including gambling as church declines to press charges. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison, months after she admitted to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from St. James Catholic School in Torrance . All rights reserved. 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. She was so hurt that they could be doing this to her.". Eric Rassbach of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, who is representing the schools before the court, disagrees. 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.. This was a manifestation of greed, Kumar said, adding that the nun had abused the trust of the community. When the fraudulent behavior first came to light, the order was deeply disappointed and offered to repay the lost funds only believed to be $500,000 at the time. The account was opened in 1997 but had not been used in years, until Sister Mary Margaret started diverting checks into the forgotten account. Kreuper admitted embezzling about $835,000 (616,000) in donations, tuition and fee money between 2008 and 2018. 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. Shes very, very remorseful and very ashamed, he said. Mr Kumar said that jealousy played a part, calling the episode "really an abuse of position of trust". On June 9, for example, Fox News reported that: A retired Los Angeles nun will plead guilty to embezzling $835,000 from the elementary school where she worked in order to cover her gambling habits and other personal expenses, officials said this week. 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. She must give up the right to control or benefit from personal property and commits herself to live interdependently within a community. Mary Margaret Kreuper (Image source: KTTV-TV video screenshot). But. Officials made the discovery in June after performing a routine audit following Kreupers retirement. Kobe Bryant's widow awarded nearly $29m after police shared photos of helicopter crash, Doctors recommend end-of-life decision for Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore, Ramon Escobar: Serial murderer suspected of killing prison inmate. 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. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images). Kreuper did not recognize she had a gambling problem until she was accused of embezzling more than $835,000 from the school, Byrne said. As outlined in her plea agreement, beginning in 2008, Kreuper began depositing tuition checks and donations into the school's account and then diverted the money into the covenant account. She claimed that she was fired after she told her superior, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. This article was published more than1 year ago. The auditor found that tuition checks, fees and donations were being deposited into a bank account not used by the school. LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) Mary Margaret Kreuper, a now-retired nun who was the principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, has agreed to plead guilty to fraud and money laundering charges. One parent told the outlet of the situation: "It's crazy. Mark Byrne, Kreupers attorney, told The Post his client had accepted the judges one-year prison sentence, even if they were pushing for probation. Her husband said that in her final days, the couple talked extensively about the case. The vow leads a nun to imitate Jesus, who for our sake became poor, although he was rich. "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. "Such action interferes with the internal governance of the church, depriving the church of control over the selection of those who will personify its beliefs.". She really didnt stay true to it at all, actually. 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. At least I hope you do.. 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. 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. Apparently, the Vegas trips were common knowledge, but the nuns explained that the gambling excursions were gifts from a rich uncle. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com. But they asserted that the courts should dismiss the cases because the teachers were essentially ministers, and thus were not protected under the federal employment laws. Many parents were outraged with the initial decision not to press charges, with some remarking that if the nuns were lay people, they would certainly be in jail according to the presstelegram. I, for one, absolutely love this move. Let us pray for our school families and for Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana, the letter added. But as the archdiocese was completing its audit, it noticed something was off with the funding. On. The money she stole was used to pay off credit card charges and "large gambling expenses incurred at casinos", the US attorney's office said. Associate Editor at BroBible covering all five major sports and every niche sport imaginable, found primarily in the college space. "I wanted to face them. Rather, he said, she is religiously trained and a commissioned minister of the church. Image Via Scott Varley/Digital First Media/ Torrance Daily Breeze via Getty Images. She, too, retired in 2018. 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.. The judge settled on a prison sentence of one year and a day and also ordered Kreuper to pay back the money she had stolen from the school. The schools denied that Morrissey-Berru and Biel were fired for discriminatory reasons. Because the funds were to be restored, the archdiocese decided not to press criminal charges. An 80-year-old nun who gambled away more than $835,000 in school funds was sentenced to twelve months and a day in federal prison Monday, according to a press release from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). 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. Kreuper falsified monthly and annual reports to cover up her crime and asked school employees to alter and destroy financial records during an audit. In total, across a period of 10 years, Kreuper siphoned $835,339 from the school's accounts. "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 pair said in a joint statement. Her embezzlement activities took place from about 2008-2018. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. Each of the counts carries a maximum sentence of 40 years behind bars. Prosecutors say the nun also ordered school employees to alter and destroy financial records during the audit. Deadly France Christmas market shooting probed as terror a 11-year-old reads aloud from 'pornographic' book he checked out from library at school board meeting, Family raises 250-pound 'dog' for 2 years then realizes it's a bear, Influencer refuses to switch business class seats so family can sit together, 2023 Billboard Women in Music Awards: Lana Del Ray, Kim Petras, & more, RHOA star Drew Sidora accuses ex Ralph Pittman of cheating, mental abuse, Original Gone With The Wind script reveals secret war over slavery, cut scenes, Good luck 'worming' your way out of this one, Sunny Hostin Points Finger at China for COVID Crisis: Did Not Cooperate With the International Community, 'Disgraceful' Meghan, Harry 'provoked' King Charles to evict them: royal expert. These nuns took a vow of poverty and said, Oh no, weve got a rich uncle, parent Jack Alexander said. Copyright 2008-2023 BroBible. 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. Her attorney said Kreuper will be on supervised release for two years once her prison sentence is complete. I have sinned, Ive broken the law and I have no excuses, Kreuper said at the sentencing over Zoom. "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. (RNS) Recently Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, a Catholic nun who stole $835,000 from a Catholic elementary school in Torrance, California, was sent to prison for a year and ordered to pay the . The two would skim money off of the top through separate school bank accounts and then head out to Vegas and put it into the casinos. "Millions of people across the country who never thought or understood themselves to be leaders of the faith" would now "magically have no employment protections," he says. The 80-year-old nun also was ordered to pay a total of. 2022 Blaze Media LLC. Sister Lana Chang, a vice principal who was initially implicated in the scheme, was not charged. At the heart of this dispute is the First Amendment ban on government establishment of religion and the separation of church and state. You can be proud of that, he said. znscr.parentNode.insertBefore(zergnet, znscr); 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. Margaret Mary Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang were accused of embezzling tuition, fees, and donations made in favor of St. James Catholic School to fund their gambling trips (Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet) Kreuper is also accused of directing St. James School employees to alter and destroy financial records during a school audit. A now-retired nun has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $800,000 from the St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, from 2008 to 2018, the last decade of her 28-year tenure as principal of the institution. Sister Kreuper who took a vow of poverty confessed to using the embezzled funds to pay for personal expenses, including her gambling habit. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, who was principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, used the school funds to pay for personal expenses, including gambling trips, according to the release. Cyclist falls to her death after drawbridge opens while shes on it, Trump tells Joe Rogan to stop apologizing for Spotify controversies, Frozen out of GoFundMe, Canadian protest convoy raises millions on Christian sit. During the time period this was happening, she had no idea this was happening. 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. Kreuper also admitted to falsifying monthly and annual reports to the school administration in an effort to cover up the embezzlement. By that math, Sister Mary Margaret was only 66 when the behavior began. In June 2021, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper admitted to embezzling $835,000 from the Catholic school where she served as principal for 28 years. His wife, he said, drove into their driveway "in tears bawling hysterically. After taking a vow of poverty, her excuse for lavish gambling expenses is hilarious. I wanted them to see me," he says "and I just pray that the justices see the right way.". Sister Mary Margaret became a nun when she turned 18 in 1960 and took a vow of poverty. 66 is still a fairly competent age. 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. The Torrance Police Department, the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation into the allegations against Kreuper. The St. James Catholic Church school in Torrance, California, on February 7, 2022. The purpose is to protect leaders of the faith, and their religions, from interference by the government. Instead of sitting in the Supreme Court chamber, though, Biel, like the rest of us, will be at home listening. Claiming mental illness at her age is a play for probation or the ability to serve her sentence at home.

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