The exception extends to religiously affiliated institutions when they fire employees who serve in a religious capacity akin to that of a minister. Rather, he said, she is religiously trained and a commissioned minister of the church. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images). 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. She is expected to report to prison by June, Byrne said, and will be released in 2023. 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. 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. By Megan Carpentier. At least I hope you do.. Sister Kreuper who took a vow of poverty confessed to using the embezzled funds to pay for personal expenses, including her gambling habit. Jaclyn Peiser contributed to this report. 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.. 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. Starting in 2008, Kreuper diverted school funds to pay for expenses that the order would not have approved, much less paid for, prosecutors say. 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. At least, thats where they caught her. (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 . 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.". 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. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty. 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. Kreuper originally pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering back in 2021. The embezzlement helped to fuel her gambling habit. When she announced she was retiring in September 2018, the archdiocese conducted a financial review for the incoming principal. znscr.parentNode.insertBefore(zergnet, znscr); Kreuper took fellow nuns on some of those trips and spent thousands of the primary school's money. 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 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. 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 and Sister Lana were in the clear. 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.. By Colin Groundwater June 9, 2021 Two summers ago, Sean Flynn reported a wild story for GQ about two very. 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. 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. Kreuper became principal at St. James Catholic School in 1990, a position she held for 28 years until her retirement in September 2018. The scheme was uncovered during an audit after Kreuper retired in 2018. She was so hurt that they could be doing this to her.". Investigators determined the money went to accounts the school didnt know about, Kumar said. The schools denied that Morrissey-Berru and Biel were fired for discriminatory reasons. They dont want you to see this Big Tech does its best to limit what news you see. When this was going on, she was not nearly as old. 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 . 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 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. There is another, and rather rich, twist to one of the cases before the court Monday. 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. One parent told the outlet of the situation: "It's crazy. She's obviously not employable.". For decades, lower courts have recognized an exception to the nation's employment laws for ministers. Kreuper belongs to the order of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. 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. Apparently, the Vegas trips were common knowledge, but the nuns explained that the gambling excursions were gifts from a rich uncle. "I wanted to face them. Shes very, very remorseful and very ashamed, he said. The school soon had a change of heart following pushback. She then used some of the funds to pay for "large gambling expenses incurred at casinos and certain credit card charges.. Kristen Biel would return to teaching elsewhere while fighting her case in court, but in June 2019, she died. Kreuper pleaded guilty last July. The first teacher, Agnes Morrissey-Berru, claimed her employment contract was not renewed after 16 years service because of illegal age discrimination. "She doesn't have anywhere to go," he said. Eric Rassbach of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, who is representing the schools before the court, disagrees. 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. These nuns took a vow of poverty and said, oh no, weve got a rich uncle, one parent told the Press-Telegram. I wanted them to see me," he says "and I just pray that the justices see the right way.". The scheme was uncovered during an audit after Kreuper retired in 2018. Despite the ongoing thefts, financial statements revealed the church continuing to operate in the black as the two sisters clandestinely plowed through church funds. Southern California authorities have revealed two nuns allegedly embezzling up to $500K which was parlayed into gambling jaunts in Las Vegas. We do know that they had a pattern of going on trips. Prosecutors had recommended a 24-month prison sentence, three years of . 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. 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. 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 . But. The principal allegedly withheld some of the checks and deposited them into the other account, endorsing the back with a stamp that read, St. 2022 Blaze Media LLC. 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". })(); 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. 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. The Daily Caller | 1775 Eye Street NW | Suite 1150-290 | Washington, DC 20006. 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. On. An old unused bank account was the giveaway. 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. It was only after she vacated her position that school officials unearthed her fraudulent scheme. One article quoted a church accountant as ball-parking the amount at $500,000. Sister Mary is not full of grace. It is "telling," in these cases, he says, that the "teachers did not even have to be Catholic to have these jobs.". The sisters, described as best friends, both retired earlier this year. Many parents were outraged with the initial decision not to press charges, with some remarking that if the nuns were lay people, they would certainly be in jail according to the presstelegram. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, who was principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, used the school funds to . The judges sentencing came as detractors and supporters showed up over Zoom to testify against or pledge their support for Kreuper, who had been a nun for 62 years. Get the news that matters most delivered directly to your inbox. 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. 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. 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. But as the archdiocese was completing its audit, it noticed something was off with the funding. 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. This time the question is whether lay teachers at parochial schools are exempt from the nation's fair employment laws. 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. We do know they had a pattern of going to casinos, and the reality is, they used the account as their personal account, an attorney told parents and alumni at Mondays meeting. 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. 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. Earlier in June, the former principal of St. James School was charged with wire fraud and money laundering. The fraud was discovered after an internal investigation at the end of the same year. 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". This material may not be reproduced without permission. We use cookies to better understand website visitors, for advertising, and to offer you a better experience. Also implicated in the scheme was Lana Chang, who worked as a teacher at St. James before becoming vice principal. 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. 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 Torrance Police Department, the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation into the allegations against Kreuper. 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 . 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 79-year-old former nun pleaded guilty to federal charges for stealing more than $800,000 from St. James Catholic School earlier this month. In June 2021, Mary Margaret Kreuper, a Catholic nun in the Los Angeles congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. District Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, whereby she committed to pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, and admitted taking part in a 10-year scheme to defraud St. James' Catholic School, an elementary school in Torrance, California, where she had served as principal for 28 years, to the amount of $835,000. She wanted more than she had.. They and their Order pray that you have not lost trust or faith in the educators and administrators of the school. Each of the counts carries a maximum sentence of 40 years behind bars. But, Fisher counters, that "this isn't something you measure with a stopwatch." Since 2014, The Marshall Project has been curating some of the best criminal justice reporting from around the web. 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. All rights reserved. The pair confessed to using the funds for gambling excursions to Las Vegas and other spending sprees. 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. She was the principal and had been colluding with longtime teacher Sister Lana Chang on the operation, per the Daily Breeze. 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. The auditor found that tuition checks, fees and donations were being deposited into a bank account not used by the school. Officials pointed out that Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty as a nun. His findings unraveled the entire scheme and, eventually, federal charges were levied against Sister Mary Margaret. You can be proud of that, he said. "Far from it. 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. 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 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. At the heart of this dispute is the First Amendment ban on government establishment of religion and the separation of church and state. "She's 80. Pic: St James Catholic School. 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. After much public outcry to pursue legal action, the archdiocese hired a former FBI agent to investigate the two nuns. She admitted to taking a total of $835,000 in donations from the elementary school, and faces up to 40 years in federal prison. 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. 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. 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. 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. Mark Byrne, Kreupers attorney, told The Post his client had accepted the judges one-year prison sentence, even if they were pushing for probation. Her embezzlement activities took place from about 2008-2018. 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". ", "Just as teaching science out of a fifth-grade textbook doesn't make them scientists, teaching religion for 40 minutes a day out of a workbook doesn't make them ministers," he says. 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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. Similar articles were published by the Los Angeles Times, KTLA, and Unilad.co.uk. Sister Mary Margaret was making bank (very illegally) through laundering and threw everyone off of the scent by reminding them of her vow of poverty. 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. His wife, he said, drove into their driveway "in tears bawling hysterically. Julija Garunkstis, a St. James mother who attended the school between 2005 and 2014, said Kreuper had shaken her faith. When first confronted, Mr Kumar said, the nun claimed she "did it in part because she believes priests get paid better than nuns". 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.. But Fisher notes that the schools in these cases do not claim any religious reason for firing the teachers. 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. Is A Hot Dog A Sandwich? Sister Mary Margaret became a nun when she turned 18 in 1960 and took a vow of poverty. The purpose is to protect leaders of the faith, and their religions, from interference by the government. 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. G7 summit - Biden brings 1.2m Cadillac The Beast but will it fit down Cornwalls tiny country lanes. 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. Sister Mary Margaret was caught in 2018. I have sinned, Ive broken the law and I have no excuses, Kreuper said at the sentencing over Zoom. Were those functions to be considered ministerial, Fisher says, the results would be dire. This was a manifestation of greed, Kumar said, adding that the nun had abused the trust of the community. St. James teacher Lana Chang admitted along with Kreuper to the embezzlement in 2018, following each of their retirements earlier that year. She, too, retired in 2018. 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. 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. Police will still present the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office, NBC reported. 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