Sister Mary Margaret was making bank (very illegally) through laundering and threw everyone off of the scent by reminding them of her vow of poverty. 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 is not full of grace. But how do we define who is a minister and who is not? 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.. 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. The account was opened in 1997 but had not been used in years, until Sister Mary Margaret started diverting checks into the forgotten account. "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. On. 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. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper used tuition fees and donations to a California Catholic school to subsidize her casino expenses. })(); 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. Since 2014, The Marshall Project has been curating some of the best criminal justice reporting from around the web. Mary Margaret Kreuper, a nun who admitted stealing more than $800,000 from St. James Catholic School in Torrance when she was its principal, spent some of the money on trips to Las Vegas and. I, for one, absolutely love this move. 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. 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. 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. As principal of St. James Catholic School, she oversaw the money the school received to pay for tuition and fees as well as charitable donations. But as the archdiocese was completing its audit, it noticed something was off with the funding. 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. The nuns order says the woman are cooperating and intend to pay all of the money back in full. Mary Margaret Kreuper was so close to getting away with it. Prosecutors said that she had also instructed school employees to alter and destroy financial records. Meyers reported it to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, who hired their own auditor. The schools denied that Morrissey-Berru and Biel were fired for discriminatory reasons. We use cookies to better understand website visitors, for advertising, and to offer you a better experience. We do know that they had a pattern of going on trips. American sister stole money from accounts she controlled as a headteacher and used it to pay off credit card charges and "large gambling expenses incurred at casinos". Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty. 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). 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. However, around the same time, a family at the school asked for an old check they had written to St. James. All rights reserved. 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. St.James Catholic School caught embezzling $500K for personal use, including gambling as church declines to press charges. 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. 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. Pic: St James Catholic School. 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. As headteacher at St James Catholic School, which she ran for 28 years, she "controlled accounts at a credit union, including a savings account for the school and one established to pay the living expenses of the nuns employed by the school", prosecutors said. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. 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. ", "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. 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. 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 . (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 . One parent told the outlet of the situation: "It's crazy. 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.. Kreuper as the school's principal, handled all tuition payments, with the sister depositing checks into a separate . By signing up to the Blaze News newsletter you agree to receive electronic communications from Blaze Media that may sometimes include advertisements or sponsored content. 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. "The Gambling Nuns" saga is unlikely to come up at the Supreme Court, but it certainly is on Darryl Biel's mind. 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.. It involves two fifth-grade teachers at Catholic schools in California. She claimed that she was fired after she told her superior, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Monday's case, however, does not involve trained and ordained ministers of the faith. Her husband, Darryl Biel, remembers that day vividly. Instead of sitting in the Supreme Court chamber, though, Biel, like the rest of us, will be at home listening. 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. Mary Margaret Kreuper (Image source: KTTV-TV video screenshot). 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. His . The embezzlement helped to fuel her gambling habit. 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 . "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.". 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. In a statement to the Washinton Post her attorneys, Mark A. Byrne and Daniel V. Nixon, said she is very remorseful and sorry for any harm she has caused.. In a statement to The Washington Post, Kreupers lawyers said she is very remorseful and sorry for any harm she has caused. Also implicated in the scheme was Lana Chang, who worked as a teacher at St. James before becoming vice principal. zergnet.type = 'text/javascript'; zergnet.async = true; Court documents show that she also oversaw the St. James Convent Account, a savings account that funded the living expenses of the nuns who worked at the school. 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. znscr.parentNode.insertBefore(zergnet, znscr); Southern California authorities have revealed two nuns allegedly embezzling up to $500K which was parlayed into gambling jaunts in Las Vegas. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Is A Hot Dog A Sandwich? 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. 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. Her husband, Darryl Biel, remembers that day vividly. Kreuper admitted embezzling about $835,000 (616,000) in donations, tuition and fee money between 2008 and 2018. 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, 80, of Los Angeles, was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to pay $825,338 in restitution. She betrayed the trust of people in the community, the parents, students, the archdiocese and the sisters. Kreuper also admitted to falsifying monthly and annual reports to the school administration in an effort to cover up the embezzlement. This large chunk of stolen money came as the St. James Catholic School was operating under tight budgets with small concerns that the finances could not continue to keep the door open. 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.. The schools, "have never asserted that either of [the teachers] fell short in any religious duty or adherence to the faith," he says. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, of Los Angeles, was sentenced Monday to one year and one day for fraud and money laundering charges. 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. Similar articles were published by the Los Angeles Times, KTLA, and Unilad.co.uk. Sister Mary Margaret became a nun when she turned 18 in 1960 and took a vow of poverty. "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. 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. 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 defraudingSt. James Catholic Schoolover a period of 10 years. Kumar said the nuns instruction to the auditors sparked suspicion, and they reported the incident to Msgr. That was the first clue that unraveled a significant scheme. Eric Rassbach of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, who is representing the schools before the court, disagrees. The pair confessed to using the funds for gambling excursions to Las Vegas and other spending sprees. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper A curated collection of links The Record What are records? Its an explanation.. She's obviously not employable.". Kreuper was principal at the school for 28 years. The 80-year-old nun pleaded for mercy after stealing $835,339 from an elementary Catholic school to fund her gambling addiction.. 66 is still a fairly competent age. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper admits to stealing over $835k from a Catholic School. She spent the next 59 years of her life dedicated to the church, they said. 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. At least, thats where they caught her. G7 summit - Biden brings 1.2m Cadillac The Beast but will it fit down Cornwalls tiny country lanes. 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. 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. 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.. The Archdiocese appears to have now changed course-with ABC Newsreporting a criminal case may now be in the works following deepening investigations. var zergnet = document.createElement('script'); But this week, prosecutors said Sister Mary Margaret, 79, had agreed to plead guilty to stealing more than. This material may not be reproduced without permission. Jaclyn Peiser contributed to this report. 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. 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