Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper A curated collection of links The Record What are records? Rather, he said, she is religiously trained and a commissioned minister of the church. Sister Mary Margaret was caught in 2018. Kreuper signed the plea agreement, which Snopes has obtained and which can be read in full here, on June 2, 2021. The Daily Caller | 1775 Eye Street NW | Suite 1150-290 | Washington, DC 20006. Parents and alumni of St. James told KTTV-TV in late 2018 that they hoped the school followed through with pursuing criminal complaints against Kreuper and Chang. 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. (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 . "She's 80. After taking a vow of poverty, her excuse for lavish gambling expenses is hilarious. 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 . The embezzlement helped to fuel her gambling habit. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper used tuition fees and donations to a California Catholic school to subsidize her casino expenses. The account was opened in 1997 but had not been used in years, until Sister Mary Margaret started diverting checks into the forgotten account. Earlier in June, the former principal of St. James School was charged with wire fraud and money laundering. 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. Officials pointed out that Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty as a nun. 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". All rights reserved. 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. 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. 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. The schools denied that Morrissey-Berru and Biel were fired for discriminatory reasons. 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. 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. 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. According to prosecutors, Kreuper had stolen whats estimated to have been the tuition for 14 students at the K-8 school in funds that were intended to further the students education, not fund [Kreupers] lifestyle., When confronted, the defendant admitted to stealing the money, Kumar said. 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. Kreuper, he said, quoting an expert, was addicted to gambling, adding that it "is not an excuse for what she did merely an explanation". 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 auditor found that tuition checks, fees and donations were being deposited into a bank account not used by the school. "I wanted to face them. Starting in 2008, Kreuper diverted school funds to pay for expenses that the order would not have approved, much less paid for, prosecutors say. 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. All rights reserved. Sister Mary Margaret became a nun when she turned 18 in 1960 and took a vow of poverty. But the court's eventual decision could reach beyond teachers, affecting the lives of millions of other employees who work for religiously affiliated institutions. It is "telling," in these cases, he says, that the "teachers did not even have to be Catholic to have these jobs.". Sister Kreuper who took a vow of poverty confessed to using the embezzled funds to pay for personal expenses, including her gambling habit. Because the funds were to be restored, the archdiocese decided not to press criminal charges. 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.. 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.. Kristen Biel would return to teaching elsewhere while fighting her case in court, but in June 2019, she died. 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. But this week, prosecutors said Sister Mary Margaret, 79, had agreed to plead guilty to stealing more than. But somewhere along the line, you just ran completely off the road, and I think you understand that. 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. 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. 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. It turns out that at the time Kristen Biel learned she had breast cancer, Kreuper, the school principal who fired her, was embezzling large amounts of money to go on gambling sprees in Las Vegas. She doesn't have any money. 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. The sisters later confessed to using the funds for themselves. She must give up the right to control or benefit from personal property and commits herself to live interdependently within a community. She claimed that she was fired after she told her superior, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. The first teacher, Agnes Morrissey-Berru, claimed her employment contract was not renewed after 16 years service because of illegal age discrimination. Her embezzlement activities took place from about 2008-2018. "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. 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. After much public outcry to pursue legal action, the archdiocese hired a former FBI agent to investigate the two nuns. Each time, Kreuper had the same response to the community, according to the Times: How do you expect to pay for it? All the while, Kreuper spoke openly about her gambling trips, saying her vice principals wealthy relatives funded the casino excursions to Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe, prosecutors say. 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 . Maybe if she had used her poker face to see more success in Vegas, she wouldnt have been in this position to begin with. The purpose is to protect leaders of the faith, and their religions, from interference by the government. In June 2021, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper admitted to embezzling $835,000 from the Catholic school where she served as principal for 28 years. 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.

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