Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang were seen as two of the strictest nuns at St James Catholic School in Torrance, California. In a statement on Tuesday about Sister Mary Margarets guilty plea, the archdiocese said the revelations had shocked and saddened the community. As principal -- a position she had for nearly 30 years before she retired -- Kreuper was responsible for the money the school received to pay for tuition and fees, as well as for charitable donations, according to documents filed in Los Angeles federal court. Sister Lana Chang worked alongside Sister Kreuper for 20 years, at least 10 of which they spent embezzling the schools money together. Kreupers crimes occurred during her role as the schools principal, a position from which she retired in 2018. As a Catholic nun, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty. What are the details? 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. 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. Sister Mary Margaret retired in June after 28 years as principal of the K-8 school, which serves students from Torrance and Redondo Beach. Its unclear what will happen to Chang, or whether shes even involved in any ongoing investigation. The fraud came to light after the accused, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang . 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. But all the while, they were using school funds to pay for their jaunts. Would love your thoughts, please comment. But officials from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles told parents and alumni of the school that auditors have not been able to trace all of the money trail. 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. She is very sorry for any harm she has caused.". Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times/Getty ImagesSister Mary Kreuper served as the principal at St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, for 28 years. So shes basically under house arrest, which she accepts.. 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. According to documents accompanying the plea agreement, Sister Mary Margaret diverted school funds into the schools convent account and its federal credit union savings account, and then used the money for expenses that the order would not have approved, much less paid for, including large gambling expenses at casinos in Nevada and credit card charges. 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. We've received your submission. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a110852986c4083 At the time, the church and archdiocese said that they would not press criminal charges against either woman. Police said they were still carrying out their own investigation. Seemingly in the clear after that, she used the embezzled cash for expenses that the order would not have approved, much less paid for from Nevada casinos to paying off credit cards. Alexander also pointed out that the two nuns had routinely lied to parents at the school about how they were paying for their vacations and their gambling trips. The archdiocese of Los Angeles told parents about the suspected embezzlement in a meeting on Monday evening. While investigators found the two gave some of the stolen money back to the school, the rest was used for their "personal gain." Kreuper claimed she had a rich uncle who paid for the trips. The 80-year old nun was ordered to pay $825,338.57 she embezzled while principal at St.. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories. Prosecutors said Kreuper, who was the schools principal for 28 years, diverted funds to pay for expenses that her order the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet would never have approved, including large gambling expenses from casino trips and credit card charges she made from 2008 to September 2018. Thats when they started to notice irregularities in the bookkeeping. We continue to offer our prayers for all impacted by this matter.. This was really an abuse of position of trust, right, Kumar said. And I don't look at nuns as ordinary people. According to The New York Times, the 79-year-old retired nun was just recently charged with wire fraud and money laundering. 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. 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. "This is merely an explanation.". Jack Alexander of Redondo Beach said that the pair would often go traveling and gambling, claiming they had been given the money by a rich relative. St. James Catholic SchoolSister Mary Margaret Kreuper embezzled $835,339 in the schools tuition, fees, and charitable donations for her personal expenses. 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Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang of St.James Catholic School caught embezzling $500K for personal use, including gambling as church declines to press charges. Retired nun pleads guilty to embezzling $835,000 from school, in part to finance gambling. news, guides, reviews and information since 1995. 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She will be under two years supervision when she is released, Kumar said. She broke the law, she has no excuses for it and she took full responsibility.. But instead of managing the money as the school intended, Kreuper reportedly forged monthly and annual financial statements for the school as well as ordered multiple employees to falsify or destroy records in the midst of an audit. Shawn graduated from Batesville High School in 1991 before attending Ball State University and receiving his BS from . Casino.org is the worlds leading independent online gaming authority, providing trusted online casino 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. Sister Mary Margaret Gambling. The rich uncle was the parents of the St. James students.. 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. Kreuper and Chang are both members of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. 178.79.131.117 Ad Choices, That Lying, Gambling, Embezzling Nun Pleads Guilty. Last updated on: February 7, 2022, 08:42h. Many of the letters I cited and many of the people who spoke, talked about wanting something more from their childrens education. ", But a 12-year-old said Kreuper was "just like any other robber.". A Los Angeles nun jailed for stealing more than $800,000 to fund a gambling habit has admitted "I have sinned". Kreuper pleaded guilty in July to federal wire fraud and money laundering charges. https://t.co/fsUwStYj3J. 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. It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our father, Richard D. Stabile. Most of the funds she blew on gambling trips to Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe with . '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. Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images, 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. Most of the money came from school fundraisers; some came from a tuition hike. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. A Los Angeles nun jailed for stealing more than $800,000 to fund a gambling habit has admitted "I have sinned". Click to reveal So there were a considerable number of parents who were very upset and obviously feeling quite betrayed. Police have been informed but the Archdiocese does not intend to pursue criminal proceedings against the sisters. She was running the school that these parents had chosen to send their children [to], and not just for the academics. Nun Stole Over $800,000 to Support Gambling Habit, Prosecutors Say, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/09/us/california-nun-guilty-gambling.html. Kreuper is the schools former principal. The nuns funneled hundreds of thousands of fundraising dollars into a shell account to support a gambling habit. Defense attorneys said Kreuper became a nun when she was 18 years old, and for the next 59 years "dedicated her life to helping others and educating children in Archdiocesan schools. 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. A routine audit upon her retirement raised "several red . Sisters Mary Margaret Kreuper and Lana Chang are believed to have siphoned off cash from tuition fees and donations at St James school in Torrance, near Los Angeles, for at least a decade.. 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 80-year-old nun also was ordered to pay a total of. Her religious order, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, has yet to publicly comment on the matter. Some of them said they couldnt understand why the school had been operating on shoestring budget while Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana had been going on gambling sprees. That order has also paid for Kreupers living expenses for multiple decades. 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. As soon as she was confronted, she accepted full responsibility for what she had done and she has cooperated fully with law enforcement and the Archdiocese. In 1940, she was 2 years old and lived in Belmont, Ohio, with her father, mother, 2 brothers, and sister. As principal, Kreuper was responsible for the money the school garnered in tuition, fees, and charitable donations. 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