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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. 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. When Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper was 18 years old, she vowed to dedicate her life to the education of children and helping those in need. 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. 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". In total, across a period of 10 years, Kreuper siphoned $835,339 from the school's accounts. The now-retired nun (I didnt know nuns could retire) admitted to stealing about $835,000 in donations, tuition and fees. })(); 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. Kreuper stole the funds over the course of ten years, ending in 2018. These nuns took a vow of poverty and said, Oh no, weve got a rich uncle, parent Jack Alexander said. She, too, retired in 2018. We do know they had a pattern of going to casinos, and the reality is, they used the account as their personal account, an attorney told parents and alumni at Mondays meeting. 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 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 . 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. Maybe if she had used her poker face to see more success in Vegas, she wouldnt have been in this position to begin with. I promised her I would see this through," he says. 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. 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. They say she also instructed employees at the school to alter and destroy financial records during a school audit, investigators found. The 80-year-old nun pleaded for mercy after stealing $835,339 from an elementary Catholic school to fund her gambling addiction.. Police will still present the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office, NBC reported. "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. Advice for the relationships in your life and how to boost your own well-being. However, around the same time, a family at the school asked for an old check they had written to St. James. In a statement to The Washington Post, Kreupers lawyers said she is very remorseful and sorry for any harm she has caused. The rich uncle was the parents of the St. James students.. 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. Kreuper falsified monthly and annual reports to cover up her crime and asked school employees to alter and destroy financial records during an audit. 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. Meyers reported it to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, who hired their own auditor. St. James teacher Lana Chang admitted along with Kreuper to the embezzlement in 2018, following each of their retirements earlier that year. She's obviously not employable.". Because the funds were to be restored, the archdiocese decided not to press criminal charges. Jaclyn Peiser contributed to this report. She spent the next 59 years of her life dedicated to the church, they said. 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 Daily Caller | 1775 Eye Street NW | Suite 1150-290 | Washington, DC 20006. Associate Editor at BroBible covering all five major sports and every niche sport imaginable, found primarily in the college space. At the time, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet imposed restrictions on the two women, writing in a news release that: "The two Sisters are removed from all public ministry. Mary Margaret Kreuper was so close to getting away with it. Indeed, he observes, they would be exempt not just from anti-discrimination laws, but also laws that protect individuals from retaliation when they report misbehavior to authorities, and laws imposing wage and hour regulations. The sisters later confessed to using the funds for themselves. He had planned to be in Washington for Monday's argument. "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 is due in court on 1 July and faces up to 40 years in federal prison. 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. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. 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Sister Mary Margarets lawyers said that she is very remorseful, and has been suffering from a mental illness that clouded her judgement and caused her to do something that she otherwise would not have done.. She really didnt stay true to it at all, actually. 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. Apparently, the Vegas trips were common knowledge, but the nuns explained that the gambling excursions were gifts from a rich uncle. The fraud was discovered after an internal investigation at the end of the same year. To know that she had been taking money from my parents and my peers parents the whole time I was there is extremely shocking, and it sways me away from the Catholic Church, Garunkstis said. 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.. 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. She then used some of the funds to pay for "large gambling expenses incurred at casinos and certain credit card charges.. All rights reserved. Shes very, very remorseful and very ashamed, he said. Let us pray for our school families and for Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana, the letter added. 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. Sister Mary is not full of grace. But this week, prosecutors said Sister Mary Margaret, 79, had agreed to plead guilty to stealing more than. Told one parent, We were an ATM, and people know it and they wont ask for justice., The embezzlement and the churchs seeming reluctance to act has led to some locals saying the scandal underscores a failure of church leadership- while also noting that only a police investigation can be trusted.. James Convent, not St. Were those functions to be considered ministerial, Fisher says, the results would be dire. I don't drink coffee, I wake up jacked. 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. 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. Earlier in June, the former principal of St. James School was charged with wire fraud and money laundering. Church officials said they did not wish to press charges against the sisters, who both expressed remorse. 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. 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. 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According to Newstalk.com, the school indicated in a letter to parents at the time that they did not want to pursue criminal charges against the duo, after they both expressed "desire and inten[t] to make complete restitution to St. James School.". She is looking forward to getting on with life and will get treatment for her gambling addiction, he said. James School, before tapping the funds for personal use. The St. James Catholic Church school in Torrance, California, on February 7, 2022. "Far from it. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images). ", "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. A NUN is set to plead guilty to embezzling more than $830,000 from the Catholic elementary school she ran to bankroll her gambling habit, prosecutors say. 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