Kreuper acknowledged that for a period of 10 years ending in September 2018, she embezzled $835,339 from St. James Catholic School. The lawyers added that she has been suffering from a mental illness that clouded her judgment and is very remorseful.. It is believed the nuns used that money to spend on travel and gambling at casinos over the years. 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 . Sister Mary Margaret worked at the school for 29 years. Prosecutor said she also admitted to falsifying the schools financial records. ", But a 12-year-old said Kreuper was "just like any other robber.". Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper admitted embezzling $835,000 from St James Catholic School in the LA suburb of Torrance. LOS ANGELES, CA The retired principal of a Catholic elementary school in Torrance, who as a nun took a vow of poverty, was sentenced Monday to 12 months and a day behind bars for embezzling more than $835,000 in school funds to support a gambling habit and other personal expenses. And wasnt it even weirder that she was going to Vegas all the time? Parents said the two nuns were big on moral fortitude and that they were very hard on kids who slipped up and broke the rules. As a Catholic nun, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty. 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. Los Angeles Archdiocese of Los Angeles Gambling nuns nuns Las Vegas Saint James Catholic School . Casino.org is the worlds leading independent online gaming authority, providing trusted online casino The two embezzling sisters are Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang. Let us pray for our school families and for Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana," Myers added . Click to reveal Kreuper even took fellow nuns on some of those excursions and spent thousands of the elementary schools money, Kumar 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 Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a110852986c4083 Kreuper was released under her own recognizance but will have to turn herself in to the Federal Bureau of Prisons by June 7 to begin her year-and-a-day sentence. 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. We've received your submission. The fraud came to light after the accused, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang . He was unhappy with the churchs decision not to prosecute. CA: 2 Nuns Accused of Stealing Substantial Amount of Money From South Bay Catholic School.Principal, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, and teacher Sister Lana Chang.Substantial amount of school funds for their personal use.https://t.co/nIiuz3JiDR. "I have sinned, I have broken the law, and I have no excuses," Kreuper told U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II, Los Angeles Times reported. The statement pledged that the order would work with the diocese to discover the full amount that had been taken from the school; they pledged to restore all of the money that was stolen. The nuns funneled hundreds of thousands of fundraising dollars into a shell account to support a gambling habit. Thanks for contacting us. Kreuper's attorney Mark Byrne explained that his client, who retired in 2018, has been under strict supervision at her convent. 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. Chang was a teacher for 20 years before being promoted to vice principal. More on this story First at 10 on Fox. We continue to offer our prayers for all impacted by this matter.. 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 . When an audit threatened to expose the scheme, Kreuper instructed St. James employees to destroy documents, according to prosecutors. Many of the letters I cited and many of the people who spoke, talked about wanting something more from their childrens education. Kreuper controlled accounts at a credit union, including a savings account for the school and one established to pay the living expenses of nuns -- who had taken a vow of poverty -- employed by the school, prosecutors said. Kreuper was the schools principal for 29 years. "This is merely an explanation.". Some parents said they planned to go to the police as a complaining party. 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. Head Nun Caught Stealing Over $800,000 From Catholic Elementary School Where She Worked. 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. '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. As it stands, the Los Angeles Archdiocese said it was shocked and saddened.. 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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. The 80-year old nun was ordered to pay $825,338.57 she embezzled while principal at St.. Two nuns have admitted to embezzling money from the Catholic school where they worked and using the cash to fund gambling sprees. Scott Varley/Torrance Daily Breeze, via Getty Images. Since 1957, GQ has inspired men to look sharper and live smarter with its unparalleled coverage of style, culture, and beyond. Kreuper was only exposed when she retired in 2018 and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles noted some irregularities in the schools bookkeeping while searching for her replacement. He said some former St. James Catholic School students even wrote letters to the judge in support of their former teacher and principal. 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 and Chang are both members of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper was 47 years old and had been a Catholic educator for more than 19 years when she came to St. James School in 1988. They were able to get away with it because the school was doing so well, financially, that nobody ever missed the money. 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. Two summers ago, Sean Flynn reported a wild story for GQ about two very badly behaved nuns: Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, and Sister Lana Chang, a principal and a teacher at St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California. Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Nun Stole Over $800,000 to Support Gambling Habit, Prosecutors Say, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/09/us/california-nun-guilty-gambling.html. Shawn Christopher Flannery, age 50 of Batesville, passed away January 28, 2023 at Margaret Mary Health after a long battle with cancer. While Kreuper spent the schools funds on gambling trips, the former principal continued to ask parents to donate more money to the school on top of their $6,000 annual tuition. Your email address will not be published. Its unclear what will happen to Chang, or whether shes even involved in any ongoing investigation. The rich uncle was the parents of the St. James students.. ", 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. 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 Kreuper served as the principal at St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, for 28 years. Kreuper, 79, could get sentenced to up to 40 years behind bars. For Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, the rest of her mortal life will be decided in a few short weeks. 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Sisters of St. Joseph of CarondeletSister Lana Chang worked alongside Sister Kreuper for 20 years, at least 10 of which they spent embezzling the schools money together. 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. Most of the funds she blew on gambling trips to Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe with . 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. On December 10, the order issued a statement about the charges of financial misdoings. 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In a statement on Tuesday about Sister Mary Margarets guilty plea, the archdiocese said the revelations had shocked and saddened the community. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. 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. Alexander said, These nuns took a vow of poverty and said, Oh, no, weve got a rich uncle, Alexander told the paper. By Megan Carpentier The St. James Catholic Church school in Torrance, California, on February 7, 2022. In California, a septuagenarian nun faces up to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal fraud and money laundering charges. According to The New York Times, the 79-year-old retired nun was just recently charged with wire fraud and money laundering. 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. 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. The sisters stole a total of $500,000, or half a million dollars, officials 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. 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. She was the principal. Parents told The Daily Breeze in December 2018 they were not prepared to absolve Kreuper of her sins. 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 retired as the schools principal in 2018, after 28 years in the role, it said. Kreupers crimes occurred during her role as the schools principal, a position from which she retired in 2018. 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. 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