Prosecutors had recommended a 24-month prison sentence, three years of . 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. 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 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.". Kreuper, who pleaded guilty last summer to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II to pay more than $825,000 in restitution. Similar articles were published by the Los Angeles Times, KTLA, and Unilad.co.uk. "The Gambling Nuns" saga is unlikely to come up at the Supreme Court, but it certainly is on Darryl Biel's mind. zergnet.type = 'text/javascript'; zergnet.async = true; 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. The embezzlement helped to fuel her gambling habit. James School, before tapping the funds for personal use. The exception extends to religiously affiliated institutions when they fire employees who serve in a religious capacity akin to that of a minister. When this was going on, she was not nearly as old. (RELATED: Nuns Allegedly Stole Catholic School Funds For Years: Report). 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. Parents said the two nuns were big on moral. 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.. The St. James Catholic Church school in Torrance, California, on February 7, 2022. Mary Margaret Kreuper was so close to getting away with it. 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. 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 . Copyright 2008-2023 BroBible. 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. 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. The Torrance Police Department, the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation into the allegations against Kreuper. 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. 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. The first teacher, Agnes Morrissey-Berru, claimed her employment contract was not renewed after 16 years service because of illegal age discrimination. Make sure you see our stories daily directly to your inbox. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com. At the heart of this dispute is the First Amendment ban on government establishment of religion and the separation of church and state. Kreuper was 18 years old when she took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, her lawyers told the Post. His . 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. 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. If Kreuper has no prior criminal history, under federal sentencing guidelines the sentencing range should be between 41 and 57 months (between around three-and-a-half and five years), though the court will have the final say in her punishment. 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. 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. 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.. I wanted to see them. Eric Rassbach of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, who is representing the schools before the court, disagrees. By Megan Carpentier. I promised her I would see this through," he says. His findings unraveled the entire scheme and, eventually, federal charges were levied against Sister Mary Margaret. 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. 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. 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. The scheme was uncovered during an audit after Kreuper retired in 2018. Her attorney said Kreuper will be on supervised release for two years once her prison sentence is complete. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper A curated collection of links The Record What are records? But this week, prosecutors said Sister Mary Margaret, 79, had agreed to plead guilty to stealing more than. She just enjoyed gambling, he said. But as the archdiocese was completing its audit, it noticed something was off with the funding. Kreuper, he said, quoting an expert, was addicted to gambling, adding that it "is not an excuse for what she did merely an explanation". I have sinned, Ive broken the law and I have no excuses, Kreuper said at the sentencing over Zoom. Maryland man, 52, sues bar over ban cause he was old Missouri daughter secretly donates kidney to ailing dad. But Fisher notes that the schools in these cases do not claim any religious reason for firing the teachers. But somewhere along the line, you just ran completely off the road, and I think you understand that. These nuns took a vow of poverty and said, oh no, weve got a rich uncle, one parent told the Press-Telegram. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, admitted stealing the money from St James Catholic School in the L.A. suburb of Torrance, where she was school principal for nearly 30 years. 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. 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. Kristen Biel would return to teaching elsewhere while fighting her case in court, but in June 2019, she died. 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. She really didnt stay true to it at all, actually. Kreuper stole the funds over the course of ten years, ending in 2018. For decades, lower courts have recognized an exception to the nation's employment laws for ministers. Kreuper took fellow nuns on some of those trips and spent thousands of the primary school's money. The purpose is to protect leaders of the faith, and their religions, from interference by the government. 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.. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Nun stops burglary with quick thinking and prayers: This is Gods property, Sister Andre, the worlds oldest living person, dies at 118, I was a celibate nun for 24 years then fell in love with a Catholic monk, Priest accused of inviting two nuns to take part in a threesome. 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". She spent the next 59 years of her life dedicated to the church, they said. Prosecutors say the nun also ordered school employees to alter and destroy financial records during the audit. 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". Meyers reported it to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, who hired their own auditor. ", Church says nuns embezzled from SoCal school to cover Vegas gambling tripswww.youtube.com. 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. Earlier in June, the former principal of St. James School was charged with wire fraud and money laundering. For years, St. James parents were told that the school was cash-strapped and unable to upgrade textbooks that were 20 years old, fund field trips or simply install an awning for the outdoor lunch area. Officials pointed out that Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty as a nun. 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. One article quoted a church accountant as ball-parking the amount at $500,000. 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. 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. She became principal at St. James Catholic School, about 20 miles outside downtown Los Angeles, in 1990. Starting in 2008, Kreuper diverted school funds to pay for expenses that the order would not have approved, much less paid for, prosecutors say. According to the outlet, "Kreuper acknowledged diverting money to pay for personal expenses that included credit card charges and 'large gambling expenses incurred at casinos,' the U.S. attorney's office said.". We do know that they had a pattern of going on trips. Sister Mary is not full of grace. 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 admits to stealing over $835k from a Catholic School. 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. 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. Indeed, he observes, they would be exempt not just from anti-discrimination laws, but also laws that protect individuals from retaliation when they report misbehavior to authorities, and laws imposing wage and hour regulations. Kreuper belongs to the order of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. BroBible is the #1 place on the internet for the very best content from the worlds of sports, culture, gear, high tech, and more. 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. 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.. The Rev. Get the news that matters most delivered directly to your inbox. "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. 15 Episodes of Seinfeld That Teach Everything You Need To Know About Life. 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. Kreuper as the school's principal, handled all tuition payments, with the sister depositing checks into a separate . There is another, and rather rich, twist to one of the cases before the court Monday. 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. Kreuper is due in court on 1 July and faces up to 40 years in federal prison. 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. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang were seen as two of the strictest nuns at St James Catholic School in Torrance, California. 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. 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. Kreuper originally pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering back in 2021. "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. St. James teacher Lana Chang admitted along with Kreuper to the embezzlement in 2018, following each of their retirements earlier that year. Shes very, very remorseful and very ashamed, he said. But, Fisher counters, that "this isn't something you measure with a stopwatch." 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. 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.. 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. "I wanted to face them. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper used tuition fees and donations to a California Catholic school to subsidize her casino expenses. 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. They say she also instructed employees at the school to alter and destroy financial records during a school audit, investigators found. We use cookies to better understand website visitors, for advertising, and to offer you a better experience. Is A Hot Dog A Sandwich? Monday's case, however, does not involve trained and ordained ministers of the faith. 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. School employees to alter and destroy financial records during a school audit, investigators found of wire and. Charges for stealing more than kristen Biel would return to teaching elsewhere while fighting case! Kreuper to the archdiocese was completing its audit, it noticed something off. 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