"I was wrong, and I am profoundly sorry for the pain and the suffering that I have caused so many people.". But the Catholic church is glad to have a scandal that doesn't involve boy-rape, so they've got that going for them. She further admitted "lulling St. James School and the administration into believing that the school's finances were being properly accounted for and its financial assets properly safeguarded," which allowed her to maintain access to the school's finances. We've received your submission. Archdiocese lawyer Marge Graf said the nuns' order agreed to pay the school full restitution and impose "severe sanctions" on Kreuper and Chang. news, guides, reviews and information since 1995. 'I have sinned': 80-year-old gambling nun jailed after blaming gender pay gap for stealing $800,000 from kids Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper said she stole tuition checks and donations in. She is scheduled to appear in the Federal District Court in Los Angeles on July 1. There have been calls among some parents for the pair to be charged while others said they should be forgiven. One of the things she said when she was first confronted by the LA Archdiocese and even before law enforcement got involved was she did it in part because she believes priests get paid better than nuns, Kumar told The Post. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Sister Mary Margarets lawyers, Mark A. Byrne and Daniel V. Nixon, said she was very remorseful., As soon as she was confronted she accepted full responsibility for what she had done and she has cooperated completely with law enforcement and the Archdiocese, they said in a statement. Our Sisters take full responsibility for the choices they made and are subject to the law., The order said that they were imposing their own kind of punishment on Kreuper and on Chang: Canonical Restrictions have been imposed. "The Sisters of St. Joseph both desire and intend to make complete restitution to St. James School," the Daily Breeze reported. 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 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. 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 nuns decades-old murder. Principal, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, and teacher Sister Lana Chang. Powered by. Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times/Getty ImagesSister Mary Kreuper served as the principal at St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, for 28 years. 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." Police have been informed but the Archdiocese does not intend to pursue criminal proceedings against the sisters. So shes basically under house arrest, which she accepts.. Sister Mary Margaret became a nun when she turned 18 in 1960 and took a vow of poverty. I have sinned, I have broken the law, and I have no excuses, Kreuper said during Mondays hearing, according to the LA Times. The nuns embezzlement first came to light when Sister Mary Margaret was about to retire, according to church officials. Kreupers crimes occurred during her role as the schools principal, a position from which she retired in 2018. 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 . 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). Eventually, a forensic accountant discovered that there was a half-million dollars missing from the schools accounts. the dead priest whose DNA could help solve a nuns decades-old murder, the Missouri nun who smuggled two pounds of cocaine. 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. She confessed to causing losses to St. James Catholic School totaling $835,339 over the course of the scheme, the statement said. Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, first made headlines in 2018 after she and another nun were found to have taken as much as $500,000 to finance gambling trips to Las Sister Lana taught there for 20 years. So there were a considerable number of parents who were very upset and obviously feeling quite betrayed. 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. Thats why it came as a shock to many when the two sisters were accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the schools funds and using it to gamble in Las Vegas. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories. 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,. She served as the schools principal for 29 years. 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 admitted embezzling about $835,000 (616,000) in donations, tuition and fee money between . Kreuper pleaded guilty in July to federal wire fraud and money laundering charges. Kreuper has admitted she took the money and expressed remorse. While other checks were being cashed properly and accounted for, the crooked nun deposited other checks in the secret bank accounts before they were even accounted for by staff. Two nuns from a California Catholic school have been accused of siphoning $500,000 in tuition, fees, and donations that could have gone towards the school's development into a different account that was then used to fund trips and casino visits. But this week, prosecutors said Sister Mary Margaret, 79, had agreed to plead guilty to stealing more than. At the time of Flynns reporting, St. James School estimated the two women embezzled around $500,000. Kumar added Kreupers scheme was revealed after the school performed an informal audit shortly after the nun announced she would be retiring as principal in 2018. Prosecutors asked for a sentence of two years, but US District Judge Otis D. Wright II said during Mondays sentencing that he also struggled to find the proper sentence for the nun, and even said she was one heck of a teacher., You can be proud of that, Wright said, according to the LA Times. However, Sister Kreuper wasnt alone in her scheme. https://t.co/fsUwStYj3J. The rich uncle was the parents of the St. James students.. Kreuper was the schools principal for 29 years. 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. Officials in the archdiocese of Los Angeles told parents that they had proof that a Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang had stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from the St James Catholic School in Torrance. A Los Angeles nun jailed for stealing more than $800,000 to fund a gambling habit has admitted "I have sinned". The two nuns. Shawn Christopher Flannery, age 50 of Batesville, passed away January 28, 2023 at Margaret Mary Health after a long battle with cancer. The two embezzling sisters are Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang. But Sister Mary said that she was extremely remorseful and humbled. Alexander said, These nuns took a vow of poverty and said, Oh, no, weve got a rich uncle, Alexander told the paper. Last updated on: February 7, 2022, 08:42h. A financial review showed a substantial amount of school funds had been misappropriated for personal use by Sister Mary Margaret, it said. 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. pic.twitter.com/Gcbn0WRky5, Karen Devine (@KarenDevineKESQ) December 11, 2018. Parents said the two nuns were big on moral fortitude . As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. People gamble in a casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in this illustrative image. In July 1520, when scarcely four and a half years old, she entertained a visiting French delegation with a performance on the virginals (a type of harpsichord). Kreuper even took fellow nuns on some of those excursions and spent thousands of the elementary schools money, Kumar said. Its unclear what will happen to Chang, or whether shes even involved in any ongoing investigation. ", The judge advised Kreuper that he expected her to make a statement at sentencing, adding, "I don't have to worry about (lies) coming from you.". Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. A Los Angeles nun jailed for stealing more than $800,000 to fund a gambling habit has admitted "I have sinned". To revisit this article, visit My Profile, thenView saved stories. What happened is wrong. 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 a press release from the US Attorneys Office in the Central District of California. He added that an expert report explained she had a gambling addiction. Anyone can read what you share. One man, whose children attend St James, grumbled that the nuns had been using the school as if it was their own private ATM. Sisters Mary Margaret Kreuper and Lana Chang, who belong to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, are suspected of embezzling a "substantial" amount of money from a Catholic school in. Thanks for contacting us. The offices of the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California revealed that she had used funds raised for the school for personal expenses as well as gambling. Sister Mary Margaret Gambling. Sister Mary Margaret admitted to a fraudulent scheme in which she lulled St. James School and the administration into believing that the schools finances were being properly accounted for and its financial assets properly safeguarded, prosecutors said. But according to the US Attorneys Office Central District of California, Kreuper diverted funds to pay for expenses that the order would not have approved, much less paid for, including large gambling expenses incurred at casinos and certain credit card charges.. The audit uncovered a long-forgotten account into which Kreuper would divert checks made out to the school. From award-winning writing and photography to binge-ready videos to electric live events, GQ meets millions of modern men where they live, creating the moments that create conversations. "This is not an excuse for what she did," he said. Officials said that they carried out an internal audit as a matter of routine, since the school was about to get new leadership. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, of Los Angeles, was sentenced Monday to one year and one day for fraud and money laundering charges. Mary was a precocious child. All rights reserved. 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? The archdiocese and St. James Parish and School are grateful to local and federal law enforcement agencies for their work in the investigation of this matter. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. She diverted school funds into the St. James Convent Account and the St. James Savings Account, which were used "to pay for expenses that the order would not have approved, much less paid for, including large gambling expenses incurred at casinos and certain credit card charges," the Department of Justice stated. The rich uncle was the parents of the St. James students," he said. She said that she diverted school funds into the St. James convent account and then into its federal credit union savings account. The 80-year-old nun also was ordered to pay a total of $825,338.57 in restitution for the money she embezzled while she was a principal at St. James Catholic School in Torrance, Calif. The fraud came to light after the accused, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang . 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. Head Nun Caught Stealing Over $800,000 From Catholic Elementary School Where She Worked. Of course! A. She was running the school that these parents had chosen to send their children [to], and not just for the academics. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Oh boy, the flying nun really did it this time. Byrne said the Order of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet already imposed some severe and onerous restrictions on Kreuper. The attorney said the nuns had spent the money on gambling trips and on vacations. This snapshot of Mary Margaret Bartock's life was captured by the 1940 U.S. Census. Kreuper, who apologized to the community during Mondays sentencing, also made a Hail Mary plea to the judge for leniency. 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