Kreuper stole about $83,000 per year, which is the equivalent of tuition for 14 students, prosecutors argued. the dead priest whose DNA could help solve a nuns decades-old murder, the Missouri nun who smuggled two pounds of cocaine. The rich uncle was the parents of the St. James students.. She cant leave the premises unless shes given permission and she has to tell them where shes going and she has to be accompanied by somebody, the defense attorney told The Post. The nuns embezzlement first came to light when Sister Mary Margaret was about to retire, according to church officials. In December 2018, after a meeting with the archdiocese, the Torrance Police Department said that it was dedicating additional staffing to help examine evidence and find people who had submitted tuition checks, account payment information or cash donations. Ultimately Kreuper admitted to stealing over $835,000. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. Sister Mary Margaret retired in June after 28 years as principal of the K-8 school, which serves students from Torrance and Redondo Beach. Defense attorneys said Kreuper became a nun when she was 18 years old, and for the next 59 years "dedicated her life to helping others and educating children in Archdiocesan schools. A routine audit upon her retirement raised "several red . CA: 2 Nuns Accused of Stealing Substantial Amount of Money From South Bay Catholic School. The lawyers added that she has been suffering from a mental illness that clouded her judgment and is very remorseful.. Sister Lana Chang worked alongside Sister Kreuper for 20 years, at least 10 of which they spent embezzling the schools money together. Most of the money came from school fundraisers; some came from a tuition hike. Parents have acknowledged that there were a number of red flags at St. James, but no one wants to assume the worst of nuns. Kevin Kearns, who enrolled his son in kindergarten in 2011, says he has used this as a teachable moment and asked for leniency for Kreuper, the LA Times reported. We've received your submission. On December 10, the order issued a statement about the charges of financial misdoings. Kreuper claimed the school was always strapped for cash, then funneled donations into shell accounts that she and Chang would use to fund trips to Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe. But the Catholic church is glad to have a scandal that doesn't involve boy-rape, so they've got that going for them. 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). Kreuper, who was the principal of the school for 28 years, agreed to plead guilty as part of a deal with prosecutors, the release said. Mary was a precocious child. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, of Los Angeles, was sentenced Monday to one year and one day for fraud and money laundering charges. news, guides, reviews and information since 1995. The two Sisters are removed from their residence and placed in a religious house under the supervision of community leadership. Mary Margaret Kreuper, principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, Calif., until 2018, was charged with stealing more than $835,000 in school funds to pay for personal expenses, including gambling trips. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper of Los Angeles will serve one year, and one day, behind federal prison bars for fraud and money laundering charges. Crime Calif. Nun, 80, Sentenced for Stealing More than $800K from Catholic School to Fund Gambling Addiction Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper pleaded guilty for using funds to pay for. ", U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II said at last year's plea hearing that he was raised as a Roman Catholic, "and was educated by nuns. But many parents were furious when they discovered the diocese had decided not to press charges against Kreuper because she had shown remorse.. She was rumbled in June 2018, just as she was about to retire after 28 years as principal, when an internal audit blew the lid off the racket. According to The New York Times, the 79-year-old retired nun was just recently charged with wire fraud and money laundering. A. 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 California, a septuagenarian nun faces up to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal fraud and money laundering charges. Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, was charged Tuesday with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, according to the U.S. attorney's office for the Central District of California. Nun Stole Over $800,000 to Support Gambling Habit, Prosecutors Say, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/09/us/california-nun-guilty-gambling.html. Police have been informed but the Archdiocese does not intend to pursue criminal proceedings against the sisters. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. The nun was in charge of overseeing tuition money, fees the school received and charitable donations, prosecutors said. Graf said: "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.". Kreuper had retired as the school's principal earlier this year and she dealt with the school fees, which she allegedly withheld and deposited into an account only she and Chang knew about, the paper said. After reading about the retired nun who stole over $800,000 to support her gambling habit, learn about the dead priest whose DNA could help solve a nun's decades-old murder. The 80-year old nun was ordered to pay $825,338.57 she embezzled while principal at St.. She is scheduled to appear in the Federal District Court in Los Angeles on July 1. Looking back, though, wasnt it a little strange that Sister Mary Margaret was always organizing poker nights at the school for charity, and that she always made the final table? Let us pray for our school families and for Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana," Myers added . Defense attorney Mark Byrne told The Post that Kreuper joined her order when she was 18 years old and has been an educator for 54 years. Byrne said the Order of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet already imposed some severe and onerous restrictions on Kreuper. Before Kreuper was sentenced, parents of children attending St. James and former students sent letters about Kreuper's role at the school and the impact of her actions. Retired nun pleads guilty to embezzling $835,000 from school, in part to finance gambling. She also admitted to falsifying monthly and annual financial reports, and to telling school employees to alter and destroy financial records during an audit, the prosecutors statement and court documents said. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper admitted embezzling $835,000 from St James Catholic School in the LA suburb of Torrance. Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion, Armed Woman Who Held Up Vegas Casino Tracked by Cops, Nuns' Tour Against Trump Tax Law to End at Mar-a-Lago. Alexander also pointed out that the two nuns had routinely lied to parents at the school about how they were paying for their vacations and their gambling trips. I have sinned, I have broken the law, and I have no excuses, Kreuper said during Mondays hearing, according to the LA Times. A Los Angeles nun jailed for stealing more than $800,000 to fund a gambling habit has admitted "I have sinned". 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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. A subsequent financial review found that a substantial amount of school funds had been misappropriated for personal use by Sister Mary Margaret, with the Torrance Police Department expanding its investigation into the matter in December 2018. Concern over the schools finances started to increase as the Archdiocese of Los Angeles began to prepare for the change of leadership in 2018, the archdiocese said in a statement. All rights reserved. A Los Angeles nun jailed for stealing more than $800,000 to fund a gambling habit has admitted "I have sinned". Shawn is the son of Linda and Bill Flannery born November 25, 1972 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Shawn Christopher Flannery, age 50 of Batesville, passed away January 28, 2023 at Margaret Mary Health after a long battle with cancer. "This is not an excuse for what she did," he said. It remains unclear which years specifically she embezzled funds from the school during her 28-year tenure there, though she did admit to doing so for over a decade. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories. Kreuper even took fellow nuns on some of those excursions and spent thousands of the elementary schools money, Kumar said. Officials also say that as they audit started, Sister Mary Margaret started to seem very anxious they say that she even asked people to falsify information for her. Kreuper has admitted she took the money and expressed remorse. Many of the letters I cited and many of the people who spoke, talked about wanting something more from their childrens education. This snapshot of Mary Margaret Bartock's life was captured by the 1940 U.S. Census. https://t.co/fsUwStYj3J. Gambling Nun Who Embezzled $800,000+ of School Funds Gets Off Lightly With 366-Day Jail Sentence Judge Wright II sentenced Kreuper to one year and a day in a federal prison She must also pay $825,338.57 in restitution for the money she embezzled Kreuper admitted using the school funds to pay for "large gambling expenses" Diverting embezzled funds into secret accounts, Kreuper used the money "to pay for expenses that the order would not have approved, much less paid for," including large gambling expenses and trips to Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and Temecula, according to her plea agreement. Kreuper, who used funds to pay for trips to Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and Temecula, says she will use the rest of her days trying to make amends. Sister Lana taught there for 20 years. Monsignor Micheal Meyers, the pastor at St. James Catholic Church sent a letter to pupils' parents stating that Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, the nuns' order, is cooperating with the parish and the Archdiocese to find out how much money was taken. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. A great part of her early education came from her mother, who consulted the Spanish humanist Juan Luis Vives for advice and commissioned him to write De Institutione Feminae Christianae, a treatise on the . Until this last spring, Kreuper was the principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance and Chang was. As principal -- a position she had for nearly 30 years before she retired -- Kreuper was responsible for the money the school received to pay for tuition and fees, as well as for charitable donations, according to documents filed in Los Angeles federal court. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang of St.James Catholic School caught embezzling $500K for personal use, including gambling as church declines to press charges. In total, it is believed she stole $835,339 at least that authorities are currently aware of. Sister Mary Margaret became a nun when she turned 18 in 1960 and took a vow of poverty. 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,. He was unhappy with the churchs decision not to prosecute. By Colin Groundwater June 9, 2021 Two summers ago, Sean Flynn reported a wild story for GQ about two very. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Thanks for contacting us. 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. 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. The rich uncle was the parents of the St. James students," he said. Chang was a teacher for 20 years before being promoted to vice principal. According to documents accompanying the plea agreement, Sister Mary Margaret diverted school funds into the schools convent account and its federal credit union savings account, and then used the money for expenses that the order would not have approved, much less paid for, including large gambling expenses at casinos in Nevada and credit card charges. Ad Choices, That Lying, Gambling, Embezzling Nun Pleads Guilty. Meanwhile, she would falsify monthly and annual reports to cover up her conduct. Bobby Kent And The Murder That Inspired The Cult Classic Film "Bully", What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch, Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images. After charges were filed, her attorneys issued a statement saying Sister Mary Margaret suffered "from mental illness that clouded her judgment and caused her to do something that she otherwise would not have done. She'd taught fifth grade at Our Lady of Las Vegas . "Pop Dick Stabile ", as he was known to those who loved . The archdiocese informed authorities of the matter in 2018 when financial reviews during a change in leadership showed a substantial amount of school funds had been misappropriated for personal use by Sister Mary Margaret during her tenure as school principal, church officials said. 83,000 per year, which is the son of Linda and Bill Flannery born November 25, 1972 Cincinnati... 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