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.. All rights reserved. The Archdiocese appears to have now changed course-with ABC Newsreporting a criminal case may now be in the works following deepening investigations. Southern California authorities have revealed two nuns allegedly embezzling up to $500K which was parlayed into gambling jaunts in Las Vegas. The Torrance Police Department, the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation into the allegations against Kreuper. The embezzlement helped to fuel her gambling habit. Of course, at 79, the likelihood that Sister Mary Margaret will see any jail time is relatively slim. She just enjoyed gambling, he said. The two holy women were eventually caught out after a recent audit. 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. They and their Order pray that you have not lost trust or faith in the educators and administrators of the school. She then used some of the funds to pay for "large gambling expenses incurred at casinos and certain credit card charges.. This material may not be reproduced without permission. "https:" : "http:") + '//www.zergnet.com/zerg.js?id=47402'; They have been removed from their residence, placed in a religious house under the supervision of community leadership, and their freedom of movement is confined.". Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper used tuition fees and donations to a California Catholic school to subsidize her casino expenses. All rights reserved. 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. Dan Mac Guill is a former writer for Snopes. His findings unraveled the entire scheme and, eventually, federal charges were levied against Sister Mary Margaret. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang were seen as two of the strictest nuns at St James Catholic School in Torrance, California. 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. The purpose is to protect leaders of the faith, and their religions, from interference by the government. Rather, he said, she is religiously trained and a commissioned minister of the church. Eric Rassbach of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, who is representing the schools before the court, disagrees. 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 . She admitted to taking a total of $835,000 in donations from the elementary school, and faces up to 40 years in federal prison. Julija Garunkstis, a St. James mother who attended the school between 2005 and 2014, said Kreuper had shaken her faith. But how do we define who is a minister and who is not? Her attorney said Kreuper will be on supervised release for two years once her prison sentence is complete. She must give up the right to control or benefit from personal property and commits herself to live interdependently within a community. Maybe if she had used her poker face to see more success in Vegas, she wouldnt have been in this position to begin with. The Rev. 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. 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. 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. Along with her sentence, she was ordered to pay $825,338 in restitution. But she appreciates the outpouring of support shes received from people who have decided that rather to judge her on these actions toward the end of her career and life, theyve taken her whole life into consideration.. Mary Margaret Kreuper was so close to getting away with it. A federal appeals court ruled against the schools, which appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Were those functions to be considered ministerial, Fisher says, the results would be dire. The sisters, described as best friends, both retired earlier this year. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, the retired principal of St. James Catholic School in California, has been sentenced to one year and a day in prison on charges of money laundering and federal wire. 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. 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 wanted to face them. St.James Catholic School caught embezzling $500K for personal use, including gambling as church declines to press charges. 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. His . The 80-year-old nun also was ordered to pay a total of. 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.. znscr.parentNode.insertBefore(zergnet, znscr); At least I hope you do.. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet confirm that today the judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles has sentenced our Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, CSJ to one year and one day in federal prison followed by two years' supervised release. Mary Margaret Kreuper was so close to getting away with it. 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. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty. "She's 80. 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. Ultimately, "they are not people we understand to be spiritual leaders of the church.". The rich uncle was the parents of the St. James students.. It is "telling," in these cases, he says, that the "teachers did not even have to be Catholic to have these jobs.". Starting in 2008, Kreuper diverted school funds to pay for expenses that the order would not have approved, much less paid for, prosecutors say. It wasnt until the house of cards came crashing down that she realized what she had done and started to go therapy, where she realized this addiction was a contributing factor. 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. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images). They say she also instructed employees at the school to alter and destroy financial records during a school audit, investigators found. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com. Kreuper also admitted to falsifying monthly and annual reports to the school administration in an effort to cover up the embezzlement. Kreuper admitted embezzling about $835,000 (616,000) in donations, tuition and fee money between 2008 and 2018. Mr Kumar said that jealousy played a part, calling the episode "really an abuse of position of trust". We use cookies to better understand website visitors, for advertising, and to offer you a better experience. The schools denied that Morrissey-Berru and Biel were fired for discriminatory reasons. Kreuper stole the funds over the course of ten years, ending in 2018. Officials made the discovery in June after performing a routine audit following Kreupers retirement. She claimed that she was fired after she told her superior, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. 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. James Convent instead of St. 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. Kristen Biel would return to teaching elsewhere while fighting her case in court, but in June 2019, she died. 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. 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. I promised her I would see this through," he says. "I have sinned," Sister Mary told a US . 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 Privacy Policy. The embezzlement helped to fuel her gambling habit. The St. James Catholic Church school in Torrance, California, on February 7, 2022. Her husband said that in her final days, the couple talked extensively about the case. "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.". 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Nun stops burglary with quick thinking and prayers: This is Gods property, Sister Andre, the worlds oldest living person, dies at 118, I was a celibate nun for 24 years then fell in love with a Catholic monk, Priest accused of inviting two nuns to take part in a threesome. She would endorse the checks with a stamp saying St. (Shutterstock) LOS ANGELES, CA The retired principal of a Catholic . The schools, "have never asserted that either of [the teachers] fell short in any religious duty or adherence to the faith," he says. These nuns took a vow of poverty and said, oh no, weve got a rich uncle, one parent told the Press-Telegram. (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 . She faces up to 40 years in federal prison, but is claiming mental illness. At the heart of this dispute is the First Amendment ban on government establishment of religion and the separation of church and state. 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. 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.". When this was going on, she was not nearly as old. Meyers reported it to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, who hired their own auditor. 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. But as the archdiocese was completing its audit, it noticed something was off with the funding. He added, Its not meant as an excuse. Despite the ongoing thefts, financial statements revealed the church continuing to operate in the black as the two sisters clandestinely plowed through church funds. The Torrancepair used the money for vacations and gambling at the casino while telling parents that the school was on a tight budget. The principal allegedly withheld some of the checks and deposited them into the other account, endorsing the back with a stamp that read, St. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, who was principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, used the school funds to . The first teacher, Agnes Morrissey-Berru, claimed her employment contract was not renewed after 16 years service because of illegal age discrimination. Kreuper, he said, quoting an expert, was addicted to gambling, adding that it "is not an excuse for what she did merely an explanation". Mark Byrne, Kreupers attorney, told The Post his client had accepted the judges one-year prison sentence, even if they were pushing for probation. 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. 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. Kumar said the nuns instruction to the auditors sparked suspicion, and they reported the incident to Msgr. 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. Her husband, Darryl Biel, remembers that day vividly. 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. The judges sentencing came as detractors and supporters showed up over Zoom to testify against or pledge their support for Kreuper, who had been a nun for 62 years. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty. We've received your submission. A spokesperson with St. James did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. The scheme was uncovered during an audit after Kreuper retired in 2018. She is set to be arraigned in court on July 1. For years, St. James parents were told that the school was cash-strapped and unable to upgrade textbooks that were 20 years old, fund field trips or simply install an awning for the outdoor lunch area. But when it came to the vow of poverty, the Southern California nun struggled to maintain her promise to the Catholic Church because of a gambling addiction that was out of control for a decade. Church officials said they did not wish to press charges against the sisters, who both expressed remorse. Five of the nine justices hearing Monday's case attended Catholic secondary schools, and several of them have sent their children to parochial schools as well. "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. 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 became a nun when she turned 18 in 1960 and took a vow of poverty. The pair confessed to using the funds for gambling excursions to Las Vegas and other spending sprees. Two nuns who formerly worked at St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, confessed to embezzling at least $500,000 from the school so that they could gamble it away at Las Vegas casinos, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said at a meeting with parents and alumni on Monday. 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". Kreuper was 18 years old when she took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, her lawyers told the Post. Associate Editor at BroBible covering all five major sports and every niche sport imaginable, found primarily in the college space. When first confronted, Mr Kumar said, the nun claimed she "did it in part because she believes priests get paid better than nuns". 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. The DOJ noted that Kreuper had diverted the school funds to pay for expenses that the order [of nuns] would not have approved. Among the expenses Kreuper accrued were those from casinos and credit card charges. "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. Similar articles were published by the Los Angeles Times, KTLA, and Unilad.co.uk. 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 . 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. 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. 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.. Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana were both Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. However, around the same time, a family at the school asked for an old check they had written to St. James. "The Gambling Nuns" saga is unlikely to come up at the Supreme Court, but it certainly is on Darryl Biel's mind. A Los Angeles nun jailed for stealing more than $800,000 to fund a gambling habit has admitted "I have sinned". I, for one, absolutely love this move. It's very disturbing. The now-retired nun (I didnt know nuns could retire) admitted to stealing about $835,000 in donations, tuition and fees. Kreuper falsified monthly and annual reports to cover up her crime and asked school employees to alter and destroy financial records during an audit. When first confronted by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper blamed the gender pay gap and said she deserved a raise because "priests get paid better than nuns". Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper A curated collection of links The Record What are records? An old unused bank account was the giveaway. In these records you will find the most recent and the most authoritative articles on the topics, people and events that are shaping the . 2023 Blaze Media LLC. Officials pointed out that Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty as a nun. In December of that year, fraud allegations emerged against her and another nun, Sister Lana Chang, who had taught at the school. But somewhere along the line, you just ran completely off the road, and I think you understand that. G7 summit - Biden brings 1.2m Cadillac The Beast but will it fit down Cornwalls tiny country lanes. var zergnet = document.createElement('script'); "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. The 80-year-old nun pleaded for mercy after stealing $835,339 from an elementary Catholic school to fund her gambling addiction.. Kreuper has agreed to plead guilty to the charges in a deal with prosecutors, the US Attorney's Office of California said in a statement. He said he could not bring himself to judge Kreuper solely on "the worst thing that she's done in her life", the LA Times said. 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 79-year-old former nun pleaded guilty to federal charges for stealing more than $800,000 from St. James Catholic School earlier this month. The two announced their retirement at the same time and were on their way out in 2018. After taking a vow of poverty, her excuse for lavish gambling expenses is hilarious. "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. 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 . We use cookies to better understand website visitors, for advertising, and to offer you a better experience. 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. Prosecutors said that she had also instructed school employees to alter and destroy financial records. 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. In doing so, she agreed to plead guilty to: The money laundering charge relates to an episode in 2017, in which Kreuper improperly deposited checks from parents of pupils at the school into a convent bank account, rather than the school's bank account, then later used the convent account to write a $6,000 check to another unnamed person who subsequently cashed the check and gave Kreuper $6,000 in cash "so she could gamble in Nevada.". 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. For decades, lower courts have recognized an exception to the nation's employment laws for ministers. This was a manifestation of greed, Kumar said, adding that the nun had abused the trust of the community. She's obviously not employable.". Those reports were accurate, and we are issuing a rating of "True.". 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. 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. 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.. But the court's eventual decision could reach beyond teachers, affecting the lives of millions of other employees who work for religiously affiliated institutions. The exception extends to religiously affiliated institutions when they fire employees who serve in a religious capacity akin to that of a minister. 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. Sister Mary Margaret was caught in 2018. The sisters later confessed to using the funds for themselves. 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. She spent the next 59 years of her life dedicated to the church, they said. 66 is still a fairly competent age. (RELATED: Nuns Allegedly Stole Catholic School Funds For Years: Report). Kreuper became principal at St. James Catholic School in 1990, a position she held for 28 years until her retirement in September 2018. She claimed that she was fired after she told her superior, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. 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 . ", Church says nuns embezzled from SoCal school to cover Vegas gambling tripswww.youtube.com. He had planned to be in Washington for Monday's argument. 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. 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. 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.. 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. 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 . zergnet.src = (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? After much public outcry to pursue legal action, the archdiocese hired a former FBI agent to investigate the two nuns. 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. If Kreuper has no prior criminal history, under federal sentencing guidelines the sentencing range should be between 41 and 57 months (between around three-and-a-half and five years), though the court will have the final say in her punishment. 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. Administrators of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, who was principal St.... See this through, '' he says pursue legal action, the likelihood sister! Garunkstis, a St. James Archdiocese appears to have now changed course-with ABC Newsreporting a criminal may. Had written to St. James Catholic school in Torrance, California, used money! 79, the couple talked extensively about the case 2005 and 2014, said Kreuper had taken a of! Every niche sport imaginable, found primarily in the college space Report ) to pursue legal action, the hired! 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