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. At the heart of this dispute is the First Amendment ban on government establishment of religion and the separation of church and state. Kreuper signed the plea agreement, which Snopes has obtained and which can be read in full here, on June 2, 2021. 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. That was the first clue that unraveled a significant scheme. 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. Kreuper as the schools principal, handled all tuition payments, with the sister depositing checks into a separate account that she and Chang had access to. Kumar said the nuns instruction to the auditors sparked suspicion, and they reported the incident to Msgr. St.James Catholic School caught embezzling $500K for personal use, including gambling as church declines to press charges. Shes very, very remorseful and very ashamed, he said. 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. var znscr = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; 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. Jon Jones Reacts To Islam Makhachev Declaring Himself The Best Fighter In The World, Shavkat Rakhmonov Reacts To ESPN/UFC Commentator Laura Sanko Thirsting Over Him In Viral Video, Jon Jones First Shirtless Pic At Heavyweight Before UFC 285 Goes Viral, Ja Morants Lawyer, Agent Threaten Legal Recourse For Defamatory Report From The Washington Post, Another Glitch In The Matrix Has Occurred As A Bird Is Filmed Motionless In Mid-Air, Bengals Exec Sends Harsh Wake-Up Call To Teams Sniffing Around Tee Higgins. I have sinned, I have broken the law and I have no excuses, Kreuper told the judge during her hearing, according to the Los Angeles Times. 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. 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. "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. It involves two fifth-grade teachers at Catholic schools in California. "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. By Colin Groundwater June 9, 2021 Two summers ago, Sean Flynn reported a wild story for GQ about two very. Pic: St James Catholic School. All rights reserved. His . 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. The embezzlement helped to fuel her gambling habit. However, the church chose not to press charges against the two nuns. 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.. 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.. Mary Kreuper: Nun who stole $835,000 to fund gambling habit admits 'I have sinned', Sister Mary Kreuper embezzled more than 600,000 from the school where she worked. 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 . (Shutterstock) LOS ANGELES, CA The retired principal of a Catholic . 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.. 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. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper A curated collection of links The Record What are records? He had planned to be in Washington for Monday's argument. 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. The fraud was discovered after an internal investigation at the end of the same year. 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. 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. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, who was principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, used the school funds to . (RELATED: Nuns Allegedly Stole Catholic School Funds For Years: Report). Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in July to federal wire fraud and money laundering charges. Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana were both Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. She was the principal and had been colluding with longtime teacher Sister Lana Chang on the operation, per the Daily Breeze. 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 . Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty. When she announced she was retiring in September 2018, the archdiocese conducted a financial review for the incoming principal. A spokesperson with St. James did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. "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. St. James teacher Lana Chang admitted along with Kreuper to the embezzlement in 2018, following each of their retirements earlier that year. Mary Margaret Kreuper was so close to getting away with it. The two announced their retirement at the same time and were on their way out in 2018. Earlier in June, the former principal of St. James School was charged with wire fraud and money laundering. 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 is due in court on 1 July and faces up to 40 years in federal prison. 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. 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). The nun took frequent gambling trips to Las Vegas and holidays to Lake Tahoe and other locations in southern California, according to Poonam Kumar, the assistant US attorney. He argued that while the money she stole might have affected the schools funding, her actions didnt decrease the quality of education students received at St. James. Sister Lana Chang, a vice principal who was initially implicated in the scheme, was not charged. They say she also instructed employees at the school to alter and destroy financial records during a school audit, investigators found. 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". The now-retired nun (I didnt know nuns could retire) admitted to stealing about $835,000 in donations, tuition and fees. In these records you will find the most recent and the most authoritative articles on the topics, people and events that are shaping the . Kreuper was 18 years old when she took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, her lawyers told the Post. The second suit was brought by Kristen Biel against St. James School in Torrance. Because the funds were to be restored, the archdiocese decided not to press criminal charges. zergnet.type = 'text/javascript'; zergnet.async = true; In total, across a period of 10 years, Kreuper siphoned $835,339 from the school's accounts. The vow leads a nun to imitate Jesus, who for our sake became poor, although he was rich. We use cookies to better understand website visitors, for advertising, and to offer you a better experience. At the sentencing hearing, those who spoke were split on their feelings toward the nun and what she had done. G7 summit - Biden brings 1.2m Cadillac The Beast but will it fit down Cornwalls tiny country lanes. I promised her I would see this through," he says. Kreuper retired as principal of St. James' Catholic School in 2018, after holding that position for 28 years. 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 decade, the Press-Telegram reported. She wanted more than she had.. By Megan Carpentier. "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. Kreuper was in charge of the schools credit union account, where she was meant to deposit cash and checks from tuition, fees and donations. The archdiocese of Los Angeles said in statement that the community of faith at St James was shocked and saddened by these actions and expressed gratitude to local and federal law enforcement agencies for their work in the investigation of this matter. 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. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper admits to stealing over $835k from a Catholic School. Maybe if she had used her poker face to see more success in Vegas, she wouldnt have been in this position to begin with. 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. })(); 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. During the time period this was happening, she had no idea this was happening. 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 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 . Despite the ongoing thefts, financial statements revealed the church continuing to operate in the black as the two sisters clandestinely plowed through church funds. 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. 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 . 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. 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. Prosecutors say the nun also ordered school employees to alter and destroy financial records during the audit. Holding that position for 28 years when she took vows of poverty prosecutors the!, very remorseful and very ashamed, he said James Catholic School caught embezzling $ 500K for personal use including! 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