St. James teacher Lana Chang admitted along with Kreuper to the embezzlement in 2018, following each of their retirements earlier that year. 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. The schools, "have never asserted that either of [the teachers] fell short in any religious duty or adherence to the faith," he says. 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. 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. 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 . 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. The Torrance Police Department, the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation into the allegations against Kreuper. 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. 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.". var zergnet = document.createElement('script'); Kreuper became principal at St. James Catholic School in 1990, a position she held for 28 years until her retirement in September 2018. She is expected to report to prison by June, Byrne said, and will be released in 2023. But the court's eventual decision could reach beyond teachers, affecting the lives of millions of other employees who work for religiously affiliated institutions. 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 . Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper admits to stealing over $835k from a Catholic School. Southern California authorities have revealed two nuns allegedly embezzling up to $500K which was parlayed into gambling jaunts in Las Vegas. 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. We do know that they had a pattern of going on trips. She was the principal and had been colluding with longtime teacher Sister Lana Chang on the operation, per the Daily Breeze. She became principal at St. James Catholic School, about 20 miles outside downtown Los Angeles, in 1990. The principal allegedly withheld some of the checks and deposited them into the other account, endorsing the back with a stamp that read, St. But this week, prosecutors said Sister Mary Margaret, 79, had agreed to plead guilty to stealing more than. Were those functions to be considered ministerial, Fisher says, the results would be dire. Her husband, Darryl Biel, remembers that day vividly. A spokesperson for the order confirmed for Snopes that, as of June 9, 2021, Kreuper was still a member of the Los Angeles congregation, but the restrictions against her remained in place, and she was no longer involved in any public ministry. 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 . 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. 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. 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. 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). We use cookies to better understand website visitors, for advertising, and to offer you a better experience. It is "telling," in these cases, he says, that the "teachers did not even have to be Catholic to have these jobs.". ", Church says nuns embezzled from SoCal school to cover Vegas gambling tripswww.youtube.com. In a statement to The Washington Post, Kreupers lawyers said she is very remorseful and sorry for any harm she has caused. "Far from it. Similar articles were published by the Los Angeles Times, KTLA, and Unilad.co.uk. Kreuper, he said, quoting an expert, was addicted to gambling, adding that it "is not an excuse for what she did merely an explanation". One article quoted a church accountant as ball-parking the amount at $500,000. A Los Angeles nun recently pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $800,000. 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 was so close to getting away with it. The Rev. })(); 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. After much public outcry to pursue legal action, the archdiocese hired a former FBI agent to investigate the two nuns. Instead of sitting in the Supreme Court chamber, though, Biel, like the rest of us, will be at home listening. In 2012, the Supreme Court sought to answer that question, agreeing unanimously that a fourth-grade teacher who was commissioned as a minister could not sue over her firing by a Lutheran school. 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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. Kreuper falsified monthly and annual reports to cover up her crime and asked school employees to alter and destroy financial records during an audit. 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.. 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 scheme was uncovered during an audit after Kreuper retired in 2018. 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. 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. 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. She really didnt stay true to it at all, actually. At least, thats where they caught her. Kreuper originally pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering back in 2021. 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. 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. 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. 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. Claiming mental illness at her age is a play for probation or the ability to serve her sentence at home. There is another, and rather rich, twist to one of the cases before the court Monday. ", "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. 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. Kreuper was in charge of the schools credit union account, where she was meant to deposit cash and checks from tuition, fees and donations. 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. We've received your submission. Officials pointed out that Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty as a nun. Chief Justice John Roberts announced the opinion from the bench, noting that the teacher who brought the case was not a lay teacher. Kreuper also admitted to falsifying monthly and annual reports to the school administration in an effort to cover up the embezzlement. An elderly nun who pleaded guilty to embezzling from a Catholic school to fund her own gambling trips has been sentenced to a year in federal prison. 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. 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.. From SoCal school to cover up her crime and asked school employees to alter and destroy financial records an! 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