var znscr = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; 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". 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. Kreuper did not recognize she had a gambling problem until she was accused of embezzling more than $835,000 from the school, Byrne said. 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. Her husband, Darryl Biel, remembers that day vividly. Kreuper was 18 years old when she took her vow of poverty, according to her lawyers, and spent the next 59 years of her life dedicated to the church. Prosecutors had recommended a 24-month prison sentence, three years of . 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 claimed that she was fired after she told her superior, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Thanks for contacting us. But. The scheme was uncovered during an audit after Kreuper retired in 2018. 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. 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). Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. 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. We've received your submission. 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. 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. 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. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. Nun who stole $835K from school to fund gambling habit is going to prison: I have sinned, Carolyn Hax: Boyfriends visits leave single mom with no time for herself, Miss Manners: What to do when a fellow diner was rude to server. James Convent instead of St. Kobe Bryant's widow awarded nearly $29m after police shared photos of helicopter crash, Doctors recommend end-of-life decision for Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore, Ramon Escobar: Serial murderer suspected of killing prison inmate. 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. Despite the ongoing thefts, financial statements revealed the church continuing to operate in the black as the two sisters clandestinely plowed through church funds. Kreuper became principal at St. James Catholic School in 1990, a position she held for 28 years until her retirement in September 2018. 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 wanted to see them. In a statement to The Washington Post, Kreupers lawyers said she is very remorseful and sorry for any harm she has caused. 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. When staff members finally found the check, they realized that it was not deposited in a St. James account, but a different bank account. The second suit was brought by Kristen Biel against St. James School in Torrance. Chief Justice John Roberts announced the opinion from the bench, noting that the teacher who brought the case was not a lay teacher. 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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.". })(); 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. Make sure you see our stories daily directly to your inbox. They say she also instructed employees at the school to alter and destroy financial records during a school audit, investigators found. As a Catholic nun, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty. Parents said the two nuns were big on moral. But how do we define who is a minister and who is not? 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 . Apparently, the Vegas trips were common knowledge, but the nuns explained that the gambling excursions were gifts from a rich uncle. 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. These nuns took a vow of poverty and said, Oh no, weve got a rich uncle, parent Jack Alexander said. Mr Kumar said that jealousy played a part, calling the episode "really an abuse of position of trust". 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. It's just that you have to look and see what kind of function are they doing.". The 80-year-old nun also was ordered to pay a total of. Her embezzlement activities took place from about 2008-2018. We use cookies to better understand website visitors, for advertising, and to offer you a better experience. 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. 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. zergnet.type = 'text/javascript'; zergnet.async = true; It was only after she vacated her position that school officials unearthed her fraudulent scheme. Monday's case, however, does not involve trained and ordained ministers of the faith. Is A Hot Dog A Sandwich? The church body in the case commissions teachers as ministers, but does not ordain them. 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 schools denied that Morrissey-Berru and Biel were fired for discriminatory reasons. 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. It is "telling," in these cases, he says, that the "teachers did not even have to be Catholic to have these jobs.". Kreuper is due in court on 1 July and faces up to 40 years in federal prison. 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. 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. 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". But this week, prosecutors said Sister Mary Margaret, 79, had agreed to plead guilty to stealing more than. 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.. 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). She wanted more than she had.. G7 summit - Biden brings 1.2m Cadillac The Beast but will it fit down Cornwalls tiny country lanes. 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". The Torrance Police Department, the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation into the allegations against Kreuper. "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. Because the funds were to be restored, the archdiocese decided not to press criminal charges. When this was going on, she was not nearly as old. 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. 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. The two holy women were eventually caught out after a recent audit. At least, thats where they caught her. She doesn't have any money. "She doesn't have anywhere to go," he 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. But as the archdiocese was completing its audit, it noticed something was off with the funding. "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. 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. The fraud was discovered after an internal investigation at the end of the same year. ", Church says nuns embezzled from SoCal school to cover Vegas gambling tripswww.youtube.com. Get the news that matters most delivered directly to your inbox. Jaclyn Peiser contributed to this report. She also controlled two savings accounts, one for the school and one for the nuns living expenses. 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. Kreuper, he said, quoting an expert, was addicted to gambling, adding that it "is not an excuse for what she did merely an explanation". 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. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, of Los Angeles, was sentenced Monday to one year and one day for fraud and money laundering charges. 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. There is another, and rather rich, twist to one of the cases before the court Monday. She, too, retired in 2018. 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.". Let us pray for our school families and for Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana, the letter added. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper A curated collection of links The Record What are records? 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.. 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. The rich uncle was the parents of the St. James students.. 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. 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. One article quoted a church accountant as ball-parking the amount at $500,000. I was wrong, and Im profoundly sorry for the pain and suffering Ive caused so many people., Despite her vow of poverty, nun stole more than $835,000 from a Catholic school, prosecutors said. All rights reserved. Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, of Los Angeles, was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to pay $825,338 in restitution. "She's 80. The pair confessed to using the funds for gambling excursions to Las Vegas and other spending sprees. The 80-year-old nun pleaded for mercy after stealing $835,339 from an elementary Catholic school to fund her gambling addiction.. 5 Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, of Los Angeles, was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering Credit: KCAL 9 5 Sister Mary Margaret became a nun when she turned 18 in 1960 and took a vow of poverty. Ultimately, "they are not people we understand to be spiritual leaders of the church.". 66 is still a fairly competent age. Rassbach will tell the Supreme Court that not everyone who works at a religious school or institution is exempt from these laws. She spent the next 59 years of her life dedicated to the church, they said. Her attorney said Kreuper will be on supervised release for two years once her prison sentence is complete. 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 sentencing hearing, those who spoke were split on their feelings toward the nun and what she had done. Local 10 Newsreported Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang of St.James Catholic School(both retiring earlier this year) using money from the schools funds to live a life of luxury over the last ten 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 . When first confronted, Mr Kumar said, the nun claimed she "did it in part because she believes priests get paid better than nuns". 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. Sister Kreuper who took a vow of poverty confessed to using the embezzled funds to pay for personal expenses, including her gambling habit. The purpose is to protect leaders of the faith, and their religions, from interference by the government. 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. Eric Rassbach of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, who is representing the schools before the court, disagrees. 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.. The sisters, described as best friends, both retired earlier this year. 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.. 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. 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. 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. German cardinal offers to resign over sexual abuse catastrophe, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. She was the principal and had been colluding with longtime teacher Sister Lana Chang on the operation, per the Daily Breeze. This time the question is whether lay teachers at parochial schools are exempt from the nation's fair employment laws. 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.. 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. BroBible is the #1 place on the internet for the very best content from the worlds of sports, culture, gear, high tech, and more. 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. Meyers reported it to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, who hired their own auditor. His findings unraveled the entire scheme and, eventually, federal charges were levied against Sister Mary Margaret. At least I hope you do.. Mary Margaret Kreuper was so close to getting away with it. Kreuper originally pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering back in 2021. But the court's eventual decision could reach beyond teachers, affecting the lives of millions of other employees who work for religiously affiliated institutions. Were those functions to be considered ministerial, Fisher says, the results would be dire. This material may not be reproduced without permission. 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 had taken a vow of poverty. The scheme was uncovered during an audit after Kreuper retired in 2018. Kreuper as the school's principal, handled all tuition payments, with the sister depositing checks into a separate . She's obviously not employable.". 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. 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. Maybe if she had used her poker face to see more success in Vegas, she wouldnt have been in this position to begin with. 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. 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. She admitted to taking a total of $835,000 in donations from the elementary school, and faces up to 40 years in federal prison. 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. Sister Lana Chang, a vice principal who was initially implicated in the scheme, was not charged. 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. 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. Mary Margaret Kreuper (Image source: KTTV-TV video screenshot). The auditor found that tuition checks, fees and donations were being deposited into a bank account not used by the school. 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. 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. 2023 Blaze Media LLC. Claiming mental illness at her age is a play for probation or the ability to serve her sentence at home. The exception extends to religiously affiliated institutions when they fire employees who serve in a religious capacity akin to that of a minister. Recap: Court Weighs Whether Religious Schools Can Fire Lay Workers, Listen Live: Supreme Court Arguments Schedule, Top 5 Moments From The Supreme Court's 1st Week Of Livestreaming Arguments, Fervor Vs Compromise At Supreme Court Birth Control Arguments, Supreme Court Arguments A Tech Success, But Format Strangles Usual Give-And-Take, Supreme Court Considers Anti-Prostitution Pledge In HIV/AIDS Funding Case. "I wanted to face them. 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. Prosecutors said Sister Mary Margaret, 79, had agreed to plead guilty to federal charges for more. 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