Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in July to federal wire fraud and money laundering charges. However, her arrangement came to light following a 2018 financial review after her retirement. 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. document.querySelector("#adunit").addEventListener('click',function(){ In private letters to Wright and remarks at the video hearing, some former St. James students asked him to put the nun behind bars. Kreuper, who was principal at the elementary school for 28 years, was responsible for the money the school received to pay for tuition and fees as well as charitable donations. Prior to her sentencing, the nun had already been placed under several restrictions by the order of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. It turns out that at the time Kristen Biel learned she had breast cancer, Kreuper, the school principal who fired her, was embezzling large amounts of money to go on gambling sprees in Las Vegas.. As part of her role as the head of the institution, Kreuper oversaw all funds the school received for tuition fees and charitable donations. They also urged Wright to keep in mind that her status as a nun helped her evade detection. As principal a position she held for 28 years Kreuper was responsible for the money the school received to pay for tuition and fees, as well as for charitable donations. }); For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. 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. After reviewing all the letters, Wright said, it appeared most families had forgiven Kreuper. A nun is pictured at Vatican's Gregorian University. eventAction: 'click_ads' }); LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Mary Margaret Kreuper, a now-retired nun and a Los Angeles resident was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering on Tuesday, June 8. At the time of her plea agreement, her attorney, Mark Byrne, suggested another reason in a statement to Courthouse News. '', Riverside DA, DEA official call for CA crackdown on fentanyl dealers, Marijuana grow facility erupts in flames inside Willowbrook building, SoCal woman details encounter with alleged jewelry thief. The charges carry up to 40 years . She called her crimes a violation of my vows, the commandments, the law, and above all the sacred trust that so many had placed in me.. eventAction: 'view' Mary Margaret Kreuper was the principal of the elementary school for 28 years. According to Meyers, Kreuper and Chang were able to get away with the alleged scheme for years because the school was profitable and the money the sisters took would have ended up in a reserve fund. Shes obviously not employable., Byrne also cited an expert report finding that Kreuper was addicted to gambling. document.querySelector("#google_image_div").addEventListener('click',function(){ "They and their Order pray that you have not lost trust or faith in the educators and administrators of the school. Sr. Mary Margaret Kreuper, CSJ and Sr. Lana Chang, CSJ, who both retired this year from St. James Catholic School in Torrance, are alleged to have misappropriated nearly $500,000 from the school.. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('impressionViewable', function(event) { (CBSLA). }); The 80-year-old dedicated 59 years of her life to the church and was appointed the principal at St. James Catholic School in 1990. eventAction: 'click_adunit' Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. 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. These funds were intended to further the students education, not fund [Kreupers] lifestyle. Kreuper was sentenced to one year in prison Monday and told to pay back the money. These also include her gambling trips, revealed federal prosecutors. For 10 years until September 2018, prosecutors say she bilked the facility for money. "She became a nun when she was 18 years old, and for the next 59 years she dedicated her life to helping others and educating children in Archdiocesan schools," he stated. Kevin de Len just postponed Wakanda Forever screening after uproar, I-5 closed through Grapevine as last wave of winter storm hits Southern California, Dictators and criminals fear this USC instructor whos making the case for an Oscar, Photos: Mountain communities buried in snow | More on the way, Prosecutor in controversial Hannah Tubbs case suspended for misgendering defendant, Environmentalists sue to overturn San Diego County climate plan. reporters on a platform technologically tailored to meet the needs of the modern reader. The 80-year old nun was ordered to pay $825,338.57 she embezzled while principal at St. James in Torrance, CA and spent gambling in Las Vegas. Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, admitted stealing $835,000 while principal of an LA-area school. She reportedly claimed, after she was caught by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, that she "used the money to travel, eat out with friends and gamble in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, and Temecula," the site reported. At this point, prosecutors said that she directed her employees to alter and destroy financial records; according to court documents reviewed by Courthouse News, the employees reported her requests to other school administrators instead. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Yosemite breaks decades-old snowfall record, closing national park indefinitely, San Diego federal judge had defendants 13-year-old daughter handcuffed. 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. U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II has set sentencing for February 7, 2022, when he would expect her to make a statement. Chang and Kreuper's scheme was exposed after an internal auditor confirmed the church's suspicions. The systems that were set up were dividing people, so nobody knew what was happening, he said at the meeting. A California nun is heading to jail after she admitted to stealing more than $835,000 in funds from a Catholic school to pay off her credit card and gambling debts. Mary Margaret Kreuper admitted to taking the money from St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, over a period of 10 years, ending in September 2018. A retired nun accused of gambling with the funds of a Torrance Catholic school where she worked as the principal faces federal prison time after pleading gui. 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. Kreuper allegedly held on to some of the checks and deposited them into a separate bank account than the one used by the school. Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, from Los Angeles faces up to 40 years in federal prison for embezzling funds for over 10 years from St. James Catholic School in Torrance.. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotRenderEnded', function(event) { Since our first sisters gathered in 1650, our members have been called to do all things of which women are capable. The first sisters of our congregation arrived in St. Louis, Missouri in 1836, and we now have additional locations in St. Paul, Albany, Los Angeles, Hawaii, Japan and Peru. 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. Explore the variety of ways to be a part of our community. embezzling about a half-million dollars in tuition, fees and donations. }); Let us pray for our school families and for Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana," he added. She pleaded guilty last July to one count . Her deadline to show up for incarceration is noon on June 7. Kreuper promised to follow more closely in Christs footsteps and spend the rest of her life trying to make amends. Mary Margaret Kreuper, a retired nun who served as principal of a Catholic elementary school in Torrance, California, for 28 years, agreed on Tuesday to plead guilty to fraud and money laundering. document.querySelector("#ads").addEventListener('click',function(){ Ive used this to teach my son that were all human, we all make mistakes, but the power of forgiveness is the most powerful tool that we have.. media-tech companies with hubs around the world. Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, of Los Angeles, entered her plea to wire fraud and money laundering charges, which . Church officials previously said they did not want to press criminal charges against the nuns. She doesnt have any money. Sister Mary Margaret, 77, was a pillar of the community who spent 29 years as the principal of St. James Catholic School. MEAWW brings you the best content from its global team of hitType: 'event', According to the plea agreement, Kreuper embezzled money from St. James for a period of 10 years ending in September 2018. eventAction: 'load' Las hermanas Mary Margaret Kreuper (exdirectora) y Lana Chang (exprofesora) hurtaron dinero procedente de las matrculas, las cuotas y donaciones de la escuela catlica St. James de Torrance Auditors at the meeting said that checks made out to the school for tuition and other fees first went to Kreuper before being handed over to the bookkeeping staff. if(document.querySelector("#adunit")){ Michael Finnegan is a Los Angeles Times reporter covering federal courts and law enforcement. 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. , was a pillar of the elementary school for 28 years allegedly held on to some of the elementary for. 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