sister mary margaret kreuper

This time the question is whether lay teachers at parochial schools are exempt from the nation's fair employment laws. This was a manifestation of greed, Kumar said, adding that the nun had abused the trust of the community. A Los Angeles nun recently pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $800,000. 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. 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 . We use cookies to better understand website visitors, for advertising, and to offer you a better experience. Kreuper was 18 years old when she took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, her lawyers told the Post. The two holy women were eventually caught out after a recent audit. It's just that you have to look and see what kind of function are they doing.". 2023 Blaze Media LLC. Her husband, Darryl Biel, remembers that day vividly. On. Ultimately, "they are not people we understand to be spiritual leaders of the church.". 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. 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. 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. (RELATED: Nuns Allegedly Stole Catholic School Funds For Years: Report). 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. 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. The 80-year-old nun also was ordered to pay a total of. 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. At least I hope you do.. The tuition checks and funds sent to St. James Catholic School between 2008 and 2018 that were stolen by Kreuper equaled the tuition of 14 different students per year, prosecutors said. Claiming mental illness at her age is a play for probation or the ability to serve her sentence at home. 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. Her husband, Darryl Biel, remembers that day vividly. All rights reserved. He added, Its not meant as an excuse. As a Catholic nun, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty. Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, of Los Angeles, was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to pay $825,338 in restitution. Associate Editor at BroBible covering all five major sports and every niche sport imaginable, found primarily in the college space. 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. The exception extends to religiously affiliated institutions when they fire employees who serve in a religious capacity akin to that of a minister. 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. A federal appeals court ruled against the schools, which appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. At the sentencing hearing, those who spoke were split on their feelings toward the nun and what she had done. The embezzlement helped to fuel her gambling habit. 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 became a nun when she turned 18 in 1960 and took a vow of poverty. All rights reserved. The scheme was uncovered during an audit after Kreuper retired in 2018. 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.. Pic: St James Catholic School. Sister Mary is not full of grace. These nuns took a vow of poverty and said, oh no, weve got a rich uncle, one parent told the Press-Telegram. Asking for the nun to be spared from prison, her lawyer Mark Byrne told the court she has been kept under "severe restrictions" at a convent by the nuns in her order. But how do we define who is a minister and who is not? James Convent, not St. During the time period this was happening, she had no idea this was happening. The sisters later confessed to using the funds for themselves. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper used tuition fees and donations to a California Catholic school to subsidize her casino expenses. 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. At the heart of this dispute is the First Amendment ban on government establishment of religion and the separation of church and state. Officials pointed out that Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty as a nun. 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. By Colin Groundwater June 9, 2021 Two summers ago, Sean Flynn reported a wild story for GQ about two very. The Greatest Food Debates Of All Time, Answered Pineapple On Pizza? 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.. Despite the ongoing thefts, financial statements revealed the church continuing to operate in the black as the two sisters clandestinely plowed through church funds. 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 St. James Catholic Church school in Torrance, California, on February 7, 2022. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. 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. But this week, prosecutors said Sister Mary Margaret, 79, had agreed to plead guilty to stealing more than. 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 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. The account was opened in 1997 but had not been used in years, until Sister Mary Margaret started diverting checks into the forgotten account. Because the funds were to be restored, the archdiocese decided not to press criminal charges. Mary Margaret Kreuper was so close to getting away with it. She was the principal and had been colluding with longtime teacher Sister Lana Chang on the operation, per the Daily Breeze. 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. Apparently, the Vegas trips were common knowledge, but the nuns explained that the gambling excursions were gifts from a rich uncle. 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. When she announced she was retiring in September 2018, the archdiocese conducted a financial review for the incoming principal. 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. 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. We use cookies to better understand website visitors, for advertising, and to offer you a better experience. 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. Prosecutors say the nun also ordered school employees to alter and destroy financial records during the audit. 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 . The rich uncle was the parents of the St. James students.. In the process, Kreuper falsified monthly and annual reports to the St. James 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, according to court documents. 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. 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. Kreuper pleaded guilty last July. Get the news that matters most delivered directly to your inbox. The pair confessed to using the funds for gambling excursions to Las Vegas and other spending sprees. 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.. 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. The school soon had a change of heart following pushback. Maybe if she had used her poker face to see more success in Vegas, she wouldnt have been in this position to begin with. Make sure you see our stories daily directly to your inbox. 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. 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. 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.". 66 is still a fairly competent age. She admitted to taking a total of $835,000 in donations from the elementary school, and faces up to 40 years in federal prison. 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.". When Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper became a nun, she took vows to live as Jesus did through chastity, obedience and service to the poor, sick and uneducated. 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. Church officials said they did not wish to press charges against the sisters, who both expressed remorse. However, the church chose not to press charges against the two nuns. "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. When Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper was 18 years old, she vowed to dedicate her life to the education of children and helping those in need. Copyright 2008-2023 BroBible. Michael Meyers, the pastor at St. James Church. 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. Image Via Scott Varley/Digital First Media/ Torrance Daily Breeze via Getty Images. 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. Shes very, very remorseful and very ashamed, he said. Kreuper falsified monthly and annual reports to cover up her crime and asked school employees to alter and destroy financial records during an audit. Kreuper also admitted to falsifying monthly and annual reports to the school administration in an effort to cover up the embezzlement. The now-retired nun (I didnt know nuns could retire) admitted to stealing about $835,000 in donations, tuition and fees. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty. These nuns took a vow of poverty and said, Oh no, weve got a rich uncle, parent Jack Alexander said. The two announced their retirement at the same time and were on their way out in 2018. Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana were both Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. 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. The Rev. 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." 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 nuns order says the woman are cooperating and intend to pay all of the money back in full. Well, Sister Mary Margaret didnt quite stay true to her vow. Prosecutors said that she had also instructed school employees to alter and destroy financial records. Rather, he said, she is religiously trained and a commissioned minister of the church. 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. 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. Sister Mary Margaret became a nun when she turned 18 in 1960 and took a vow of poverty. There is another, and rather rich, twist to one of the cases before the court Monday. She really didnt stay true to it at all, actually. 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. zergnet.src = (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? 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 . Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang were seen as two of the strictest nuns at St James Catholic School in Torrance, California. Jaclyn Peiser contributed to this report. It was only after she vacated her position that school officials unearthed her fraudulent scheme. 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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. 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.. BroBible is the #1 place on the internet for the very best content from the worlds of sports, culture, gear, high tech, and more. 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. var znscr = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; 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. Investigators determined the money went to accounts the school didnt know about, Kumar said. 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. "https:" : "http:") + '//www.zergnet.com/zerg.js?id=47402'; A Los Angeles nun jailed for stealing more than $800,000 to fund a gambling habit has admitted "I have sinned". Advice for the relationships in your life and how to boost your own well-being. 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.. Officials made the discovery in June after performing a routine audit following Kreupers retirement. zergnet.type = 'text/javascript'; zergnet.async = true; The schools, "have never asserted that either of [the teachers] fell short in any religious duty or adherence to the faith," he says. Gifts from a rich uncle the Daily Breeze Via Getty Images wild story for sister mary margaret kreuper! And what she had also instructed school employees to alter and destroy financial records an! 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