Eric Rassbach of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, who is representing the schools before the court, disagrees. 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. I, for one, absolutely love this move. But the court's eventual decision could reach beyond teachers, affecting the lives of millions of other employees who work for religiously affiliated institutions. 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. Of course, at 79, the likelihood that Sister Mary Margaret will see any jail time is relatively slim. During his sentencing, Wright, a 2007 appointee under President George W. Bush, praised Kreuper for her tenure as one heck of a teacher at the school. Earlier in June, the former principal of St. James School was charged with wire fraud and money laundering. When she announced she was retiring in September 2018, the archdiocese conducted a financial review for the incoming principal. It involves two fifth-grade teachers at Catholic schools in California. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. 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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, the statement said, adding that she has been suffering from a mental illness that clouded her judgment. Sister Lana Chang, a vice principal who was initially implicated in the scheme, was not charged. She spent the next 59 years of her life dedicated to the church, they said. The St. James Catholic Church school in Torrance, California, on February 7, 2022. Yes, a Nun Has Admitted to Embezzling $835,000 from a Catholic School Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper has been charged with wire fraud and money laundering for her role in a scheme to defraud a. Kreuper as the school's principal, handled all tuition payments, with the sister depositing checks into a separate . They have been removed from their residence, placed in a religious house under the supervision of community leadership, and their freedom of movement is confined.". 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. Kreuper retired as principal of St. James' Catholic School in 2018, after holding that position for 28 years. Advice for the relationships in your life and how to boost your own well-being. 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. Kreuper did not recognize she had a gambling problem until she was accused of embezzling more than $835,000 from the school, Byrne said. For the second time in as many weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court is tackling a major religion case. 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. The church body in the case commissions teachers as ministers, but does not ordain them. On. 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. 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. 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. To know that she had been taking money from my parents and my peers parents the whole time I was there is extremely shocking, and it sways me away from the Catholic Church, Garunkstis said. He had planned to be in Washington for Monday's argument. The first teacher, Agnes Morrissey-Berru, claimed her employment contract was not renewed after 16 years service because of illegal age discrimination. 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.. She just enjoyed gambling, he said. 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. After taking a vow of poverty, her excuse for lavish gambling expenses is hilarious. 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. She claimed that the salary differential between nuns and priests meant she was owed this money, which is inconsistent with the vow of poverty she took.. 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. He added, Its not meant as an excuse. At least I hope you do.. Prosecutors said that she had also instructed school employees to alter and destroy financial records. 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. It's very disturbing. The vow leads a nun to imitate Jesus, who for our sake became poor, although he was rich. Although, formally speaking, Kreuper could face a punishment of up to 40 years in prison, it's unlikely she will receive such a long sentence. Court documents show that she also oversaw the St. James Convent Account, a savings account that funded the living expenses of the nuns who worked at the school. The Archdiocese appears to have now changed course-with ABC Newsreporting a criminal case may now be in the works following deepening investigations. Asking for the nun to be spared from prison, her lawyer Mark Byrne told the court she has been kept under "severe restrictions" at a convent by the nuns in her order. 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. We use cookies to better understand website visitors, for advertising, and to offer you a better experience. 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. She is set to be arraigned in court on July 1. By Megan Carpentier. An old unused bank account was the giveaway. These nuns took a vow of poverty and said, oh no, weve got a rich uncle, one parent told the Press-Telegram. zergnet.type = 'text/javascript'; zergnet.async = true; His findings unraveled the entire scheme and, eventually, federal charges were levied against Sister Mary Margaret. During the time period this was happening, she had no idea this was happening. 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. Also implicated in the scheme was Lana Chang, who worked as a teacher at St. James before becoming vice principal. The now-retired nun (I didnt know nuns could retire) admitted to stealing about $835,000 in donations, tuition and fees. Those reports were accurate, and we are issuing a rating of "True.". Sister Mary Margaret was caught in 2018. ", Church says nuns embezzled from SoCal school to cover Vegas gambling tripswww.youtube.com. 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. 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 . In the audio, as well as in a previous Web version, of this story, we incorrectly say the fourth-grade teacher in a 2012 case was ordained as a minister. You can be proud of that, he said. Kreuper as the schools principal, handled all tuition payments, with the sister depositing checks into a separate account that she and Chang had access to. Jaclyn Peiser contributed to this report. Rather, he said, she is religiously trained and a commissioned minister of the church. The 80-year-old nun also was ordered to pay a total of. When first confronted, Mr Kumar said, the nun claimed she "did it in part because she believes priests get paid better than nuns". We do know that they had a pattern of going on trips. James Convent, not St. Mary Margaret Kreuper was so close to getting away with it. Her embezzlement activities took place from about 2008-2018. 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. All rights reserved. Kreuper was principal at the school for 28 years. The account was opened in 1997 but had not been used in years, until Sister Mary Margaret started diverting checks into the forgotten account. In June 2021, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper admitted to embezzling $835,000 from the Catholic school where she served as principal for 28 years. 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). At the sentencing hearing, those who spoke were split on their feelings toward the nun and what she had done. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper A curated collection of links The Record What are records? 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. I wanted to see them. 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. 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. 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. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, of Los Angeles, was sentenced Monday to one year and one day for fraud and money laundering charges. Officials pointed out that Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty as a nun. One parent told the outlet of the situation: "It's crazy. James Convent instead of St. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper used tuition fees and donations to a California Catholic school to subsidize her casino expenses. Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana were in the clear. The fraud was discovered after an internal investigation at the end of the same year. 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. (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 . 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