}); But Phil Rhilinger, who with his wife, Debby, sent five kids to St. James, called on Wright to impose the maximum sentence up to 20 years for each of the two crimes. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper (CBS News) In a statement, the Archdiocese said they informed law enforcement of the misappropriated school funds after she announced her retirement in 2018. She also controlled accounts at a credit union, including a savings account for the school and one used to pay for the living expenses of the nuns employed by the school. As part of her role as the head of the institution, Kreuper oversaw all funds the school received for tuition fees and charitable donations. 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. The 80-year-old nun also was ordered to pay a total of. 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 Lake. A nun who stole $835,000 from the Catholic primary school where she served as principal for 28 years, was sentenced Monday to a year in federal prison. Your login session has expired. I have sinned, I have broken the law, and I have no excuses, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, the former principal of St. James Catholic School, told the judge. Kreuper is also accused of directing St. James employees to alter and destroy financial records during a school audit. Kreuper was principal at the school for 29 years. 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. Kreuper's embezzlement is nothing like what goes in the political circles of the country. A nun is pictured at Vatican's Gregorian University. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! They both retired at the end of this past school year, shortly before St. James Catholic Church in Redondo Beach was made aware of the alleged embezzlement happening at its school. ga('ads.send', { However, the nun started diverting the money into secret accounts in 2008 to fund her gambling habits and personal credit card charges. She doesnt have any money. A media statement issued last month by her attorneys, Mark A. Byrne and Daniel V. Nixon, said that Sister Mary Margaret had been "very remorseful" and had accepted full responsibility for what she had done. Earlier in January this year, former president Donald Trump pardoned Steve Bannon who was facing a federal case when he was charged with defrauding donors of more than a million dollars as part of a fundraising campaign to build the US-Mexico border wall. Ciaran McEvoy When the Archdiocese of Los Angeles first confronted Kreuper about her misconduct, she argued that priests are better paid than nuns, and said she believed she deserved a raise, according to the government. Mary Margaret Kreuper was the principal of the elementary school for 28 years. Mary Margaret Kreuper was so close to getting away with it. Kreuper controlled accounts at a credit union, including a savings account for the school and one established to pay the living expenses of the nuns employed by the school. ga('ads.send', { In a memo to the judge, prosecutors cited letters from parents and students, including one from a 12-year-old saying Kreuper was just like any other robber.. https://t.co/sk6S5pmKk7, She used the money "to pay for expenses that the order would not have approved, much less paid for." These included: "Large gambling expenses incurred at casinos and certain credit card charges.". The church was made aware of the scheme around June when it began a routine audit in response to Kreupers retiring. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotRenderEnded', function(event) { A lock ( In a series of deeply personal remarks from the bench, Wright, 77, a Marine veteran and former deputy sheriff who has served as a federal judge for 15 years, said he owed where I am today in large part to a nun who inspired him early in life. Trust shouldnt be broken like that., Kevin Kearns, who met Kreuper in 2011 when he enrolled his son in kindergarten at St. James, asked Wright to show leniency, saying she put the students and parents above everything else., The church tells us to forgive those who have trespassed against us, Kearns said. U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II said that Kreuper was one heck of a teacher but she ran completely off the road in her life. Her plea agreement from June 8 with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said the 79-year-old had diverted funds into the St. James Convent Account and the St. James Savings Account. However, her arrangement came to light following a 2018 financial review after her retirement. According to her plea agreement reviewed by Courthouse News, Kreuper began diverting both cash and checks the school received from payment for children's tuition and as donations into a St. James Convent bank account (established to pay for the living expenses of the nuns who worked at the school) as well as a the St. James savings account established for the school itself. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Kreuper, who as a nun had taken a vow of poverty, diverted school funds into the St. James Convent Account and the St. James Savings Account and then used the 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, according to court documents. (CBSLA). Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, admitted stealing $835,000 while principal of an LA-area school. After charges were filed, her attorneys issued a statement saying she suffered "from mental illness that clouded her judgment.". At the prosecutors request, the judge later lowered the amount by $10,000 to account for what she has already repaid. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet are a congregation of Catholic sisters. Mary Margaret Kreuper was the principal of the elementary school for 28 years. You can be proud of that, he said. Kreuper acknowledged that for a period of 10 years ending in September 2018, she embezzled $835,339 from St. James Catholic School. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. Kreuper controlled accounts at a credit union, including a savings account for the school and one established to pay the living expenses of the nuns employed by the school, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement. TORRANCE, Calif. (CNS) -- The retired principal of a Catholic elementary school in Torrance who embezzled more than $835,000 in school funds to support a gambling habit was sentenced to one year and a day in prison on Monday. eventAction: 'render' Kreuper is also accused of directing St. James School employees to alter and destroy financial records during a school audit. Kreuper's crimes occurred during her role as the school's principal, a position from which she retired in 2018. Michael Finnegan is a Los Angeles Times reporter covering federal courts and law enforcement. was part of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet order, Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. On an annualized basis (approximately $83,000 per year), [Kreuper] stole the equivalent of the tuition of 14 different students per year, prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. Of course, none of her control legitimately extended to using school funds for large gambling expenses incurred at casinos and certain credit card charges, but that is what Kreuper did. In private letters to Wright and remarks at the video hearing, some former St. James students asked him to put the nun behind bars. Online prison records do not yet show Kreuper in federal custody. MEAWW is an initialism for Media Entertainment Arts WorldWide. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper is an 80-year-old nun from Torrance and a former principal of St. James Catholic School. (Youtube/KCAL) I was wrong, and I am profoundly sorry for the pain and the suffering that I have caused so many people, she told Wright. 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. In conjunction with the criminal information, prosecutors filed a plea agreement in which Kreuper agreed to plead guilty to the two charges that carry a maximum statutory penalty of 40 years in federal prison. Love of God is at the heart of our charism. ", Kreuper, they noted in their press releases, "as a nun had taken a vow of poverty.". The now-retired nun, Mary Margaret Kreuper,. The school became aware of the alleged embezzlement in a routine audit when one of the nuns retired as the school's principal. The lawyers also mentioned that the nun was suffering from a mental illness that clouded her judgment and caused her to do something that she otherwise would not have done. They noted that she was remorseful and very sorry for any harm she has caused., Attorney Kumar also shared that during her confrontation Kreuper mentioned that she embezzled money partly because she believed priests get paid better than nuns.. ", In a statement, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said that: "The community of faith at St. James was shocked and saddened by these actions.". Most of the funds she blew on gambling trips to Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe with. '', 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. Kreuper falsified monthly and annual reports to the school administration to cover up her fraudulent conduct and 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 court documents. "The Sisters have confirmed the misappropriation of funds and have cooperated in the investigation. hitType: 'event', Mary Margaret Kreuper had been principal at St. James Catholic School, where Sr. Lana Chang had been a teacher. }); Prosecutors filed federal wire fraud and money laundering charges against Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, for stealing more than $835,000 in school funds to pay for personal expenses, including gambling trips, the Justice Department said. document.querySelector("#google_image_div").addEventListener('click',function(){ Mary Margaret Kreuper, retired nun, pleads guilty to stealing more than $830,000 from St. James Catholic School - The Washington Post This article was published more than 1 year ago Morning Mix. Viveca Tokatlian, whose son is now a senior at the University of San Diego and was once student in Chang's eighth-grade class, said she was shocked and disappointed by the news. 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