Powered by. We continue to offer our prayers for all impacted by this matter.. Kumar said Kreuper was able to dodge detection for so many years because she would divert tuition checks and other funds to two old bank accounts that other school administrators were not aware were still being used. 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They are also removed from all public ministry., Sisters Mary Margaret Krueper & Lana Chang: 5 Fast Facts, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. 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. 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. "I apologize for the public scandal, the embarrassment and the financial burden that I have placed on the sisters in my religious community, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, St. James School, the parishioners, parents and students who placed their trust in me," she said. 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. He said some former St. James Catholic School students even wrote letters to the judge in support of their former teacher and principal. Your email address will not be published. She'd taught fifth grade at Our Lady of Las Vegas . Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, was sentenced to one year and one day for fraud and money laundering. And wasnt it even weirder that she was going to Vegas all the time? Nun Stole Over $800,000 to Support Gambling Habit, Prosecutors Say, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/09/us/california-nun-guilty-gambling.html. 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. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang were seen as two of the strictest nuns at St James Catholic School in Torrance, California. The rest, they were depositing into a separate account and using for their own purposes. 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). Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper admits to stealing over $835k from a Catholic School. By Colin Groundwater June 9, 2021 Two summers ago, Sean Flynn reported a wild story for GQ about two very. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang were seen as two of the strictest nuns at St James Catholic School in Torrance, California. Their crimes came to light in 2018, and earlier this week, Kreuper pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and money laundering. 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.". On Monday, an attorney told the parents of St James students that the two nuns had used school funds as if the funds belonged to their own personal account. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a110852986c4083 The embezzlement helped to fuel her gambling habit. 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,. At OUSC you will find the most trusted sites to play with cash and the best real money games. Police have been informed but the Archdiocese does not intend to pursue criminal proceedings against the sisters. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper has agreed to plead guilty to charges that she embezzled the money while she was the principal at a Catholic school in Torrance, Calif., prosecutors said. The statement also condemned the embezzlement, saying, we will not defend the actions of our Sisters. A routine audit upon her retirement raised "several red . Parents have acknowledged that there were a number of red flags at St. James, but no one wants to assume the worst of nuns. By Megan Carpentier The St. James Catholic Church school in Torrance, California, on February 7, 2022. Play Slots for Real Money at Wild Casino Right Now! 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. Kreuper even took fellow nuns on some of those excursions and spent thousands of the elementary schools money, Kumar said. Bank records show Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang had been embezzling funds from St. James Catholic School in Torrance for at least a decade, the Press-Telegram reported. She ran the institution on a shoestring while plundering an account containing tuition fees and charitable donations over a period of ten years. 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. 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. Eventually, a forensic accountant discovered that there was a half-million dollars missing from the schools accounts. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. Wikimedia CommonsKreuper used the stolen funds for personal expenses like paying off credit cards but primarily to finance her gambling habit at casinos across Nevada. She was the principal. 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. But this week, prosecutors said Sister Mary Margaret, 79, had agreed to plead guilty to stealing more than $835,000 from a Catholic elementary school to support a gambling habit and to pay for other personal expenses. Two nuns have admitted to embezzling money from the Catholic school where they worked and using the cash to fund gambling sprees. Click to reveal The rich uncle was the parents of the St. James students," he said. Thanks for contacting us. 178.79.131.117 The first steps with free slots are easy, but once you are ready to switch to real . 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. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper admits to stealing over $835k from a Catholic School. Kreuper acknowledged that for a period of 10 years ending in September 2018, she embezzled $835,339 from St. James Catholic School. news, guides, reviews and information since 1995. Sisters Mary Margaret Krueper, left, and Lana Chang. 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. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. 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." 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. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Crime & Safety Gambling Nun's Bad 'Habit' Catches Up To Her Catholic school principal Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, was sentenced to prison for embezzling from the school to feed a gambling habit. 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. But this week, prosecutors said Sister Mary Margaret, 79, had agreed to plead guilty to stealing more than. Playing at online casino for real money can be a thrilling experience! 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. They wanted to get a Catholic education with the morals and values that they believed in and that they lead their lives in, and thats what they were looking for in the school. Performance & security by Cloudflare. Church officials expressed willingness to forgive the two sisters for embezzling half a million dollars from the church. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. But the Catholic church is glad to have a scandal that doesn't involve boy-rape, so they've got that going for them. This snapshot of Mary Margaret Bartock's life was captured by the 1940 U.S. Census. 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. Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times/Getty ImagesSister Mary Kreuper served as the principal at St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, for 28 years. Of course! Kreuper and Chang are both members of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. "Our community is concerned and saddened by this situation and regret any injury to our long relationship with the families of the school," the Order said in a statement. Thanks for contacting us. We've received your submission. A. 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. Sister Mary Margaret became a nun when she turned 18 in 1960 and took a vow of poverty. 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. At the time, the church and archdiocese said that they would not press criminal charges against either woman. But Sister Mary said that she was extremely remorseful and humbled. Photo: Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, Jen Shah Reports to Prison to Start Her 6.5-Year Sentence for Telemarketing Fraud Scheme, Jen Shah Gets a Meaningful Tattoo Dedicated to Her Family Before Reporting for Prison, The True Story Behind Hulu's 'Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence', Cold Cases Heat Up: How Advances in DNA Technology Are Helping to Bring Justice for Victims, Jen Shah's'RHOSLC' Costars Claim She Asked Them for Money to Pay Legal Fees amid Court Battle, Who Is Larry Ray? Kreuper is the schools former principal. 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. The archdiocese of Los Angeles told parents about the suspected embezzlement in a meeting on Monday evening. "This is not an excuse for what she did," he said. They added that 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., They said Sister Mary Margaret became a nun when she was 18, and for the next 59 years she dedicated her life to helping others and educating children in Archdiocesan schools.. Regardless, dont trust any nun who absolutely crushes Texas Holdem, and read Flynns original story here. Sister Lana Chang worked alongside Sister Kreuper for 20 years, at least 10 of which they spent embezzling the schools money together. Sister Mary Margaret was charged on Tuesday with wire fraud and money laundering while she was the principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, Calif., the office of the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California said in a statement. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, who worked as the school principal for 28 years, and Sister Lana Chang, confessed to embezzling at least $500,000 from the Catholic school so that they could gamble . In 1940, she was 2 years old and lived in Belmont, Ohio, with her father, mother, 2 brothers, and sister. 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. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. He added that an expert report explained she had a gambling addiction. CA: 2 Nuns Accused of Stealing Substantial Amount of Money From South Bay Catholic School. 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. The diocese had initially called the police, but after the nuns confessed they said they wouldnt press charges against the nuns. 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. The nuns embezzlement first came to light when Sister Mary Margaret was about to retire, according to church officials. But in fact, the sisters were only depositing some of the checks that came in. ", But a 12-year-old said Kreuper was "just like any other robber.". Then, read about the Missouri nun who smuggled two pounds of cocaine and blamed her internet boyfriend for doing so. This 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 the DOJ. What happened is wrong. 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. Two nuns from California stole funds from the Catholic school they were at and spent in on vacations and gambling. And I don't look at nuns as ordinary people. 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