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. 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. eventAction: 'render' Chang and Kreuper's scheme was exposed after an internal auditor confirmed the church's suspicions. He is a priest in the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and a former president of the Canadian Canon Law Society. Shes obviously not employable., Byrne also cited an expert report finding that Kreuper was addicted to gambling. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), She was sentenced to 12 months and one day in federal prison in addition to . },false) Today, she has been held accountable by the United States criminal justice system. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet confirm that today the judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles has sentenced our Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, CSJ to one year and one day in federal prison followed by two years supervised release. She said that she falsified monthly and annual reports to cover up her actions to assure the school's administration that its financial assets were in safe hands. Kreuper was sentenced to one year in prison Monday and told to pay back the money. To know that she had been taking money from my parents and my peers parents the whole time I was there is extremely shocking, and it sways me away from the Catholic Church, she said. Most of the funds she blew on gambling trips to Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe with. The charges carry up to 40. However, her arrangement came to light following a 2018 financial review after her retirement. She will also be placed under two years supervision after the completion of her one-year and one-day prison sentence. Have a tip we should know? 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. 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." She called her crimes a "violation of my vows, my commandments, the law and, above all, the sacred trust that so many had placed in me". Ive broken the law and I have no excuses. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper was sentenced to a year in prison after she admitted to stealing more than $835,000 from a Southern California school to fund her gambling addiction. Sisters of St. Joseph of CarondeletFebruary 7, 2022February 14, 2022. 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. 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. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! We do know they had a pattern of going to casinos, and the reality is, they used the account as their personal account," an attorney told the crowd at the meeting. Have a tip or story idea? Poonam Kumar told the judge. Here are 10 you cant miss, Review: A reimagined Secret Garden fails to flower anew at the Ahmanson Theatre, Letters to the Editor: Trumps perfect call to Georgia was wrong. Meyers also said at the meeting that Kreuper began displaying "very nervous and very anxious" behavior about the audit and allegedly asked staff to change records. U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II has set sentencing for February 7, 2022, when he would expect her to make a statement. In her plea agreement, they noted that she used the money "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. 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. For three years, Byrne told the judge, the nuns in her order have kept her under severe restrictions at a convent. ga('ads.send', { 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.. "I don't have to worry about b.s. 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. Prosecutors had recommended a 24-month prison sentence, three years of supervised release, and restitution. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. Despite her nun's vow of poverty . } 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 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Wright told Kreuper shed been one heck of a teacher during her 62 years as a nun. Assistant United States Attorney Poonam G Kumar of the Major Frauds Section is prosecuting the case. ga('create', 'UA-67136960-15', 'auto', 'ads'); 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 for. Our community is concerned and saddened by this situation and regret any injury to our long relationship with the families of the school. 312 North Spring Street Public Information Officer The school became aware of the alleged embezzlement in a routine audit when one of the nuns retired as the school's principal. Notifications can be turned off anytime from browser settings. Ciaran McEvoy Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper is an 80-year-old nun from Torrance and a former principal of St. James Catholic School. Suite 1200 Please logout and login again. Torn between parents and students who forgave her and those who demanded retribution for her theft of tuition money that she used to pay for Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe vacations, U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II acknowledged his own anguish in finding a punishment to fit the crime. Official websites use .gov Mary Margaret Kreuper was the principal of the elementary school for 28 years. Explore the variety of ways to be a part of our community. 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. ", Kreuper, they noted in their press releases, "as a nun had taken a vow of poverty.". Track SoCal rain with LIVE Megadoppler 7000 HD. Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, is seen in this undated photo. June 8, 2021 / 8:30 PM He previously covered state and national politics, including the 2020 presidential campaign. Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, admitted to stealing the money from 2008 to 2018 while she was principal at St. James Catholic School in the LA suburb of Torrance. Sisters Mary Margaret Kreuper and Lana Chang, the former a former principal at St. James Catholic School in Torrance, Los Angeles County, confessed to stealing $500,000 from the school to fund . media-tech companies with hubs around the world. Not all of the years appear to have involved alleged financial crimes. (213) 894-4465. Prosecutors told the judge Kreuper deserved prison time for stealing parents checks to the school over and over and over again for a decade, then ordering staff to destroy records in a coverup. Kreuper is also accused of directing St. James School employees to alter and destroy financial records during a school audit. According to the plea agreement, Kreuper embezzled money from St. James for a period of 10 years ending in September 2018. I have sinned, Kreuper said during a Monday teleconference, according to The New York Daily News. At the same time, prosecutors filed a plea agreement in which Kreuper agreed to plead guilty to the two charges, which carry a maximum statutory penalty of 40 years in federal prison. }); }) We, and those who share our charism and mission. I was wrong and Im profoundly sorry for the pain and suffering Ive caused so many people.. Officials with the archdiocese alleged the nuns spent some of the money on personal trips and gambling, the Press-Telegram reported. An 80-year-old nun who admitted stealing $835,000 from a Torrance elementary school asked a federal judge on Monday to show mercy and spare her from prison. if(document.querySelector("#adunit")){ Meyers said during the meeting that around that same time a family who gave money to the school requested a copy of the check, and staff noticed that the check had been deposited into an account not associated with the school. eventAction: 'click_image_ads' Sisters Mary Margaret Kreuper and Lana Chang, who worked at St. James Catholic School in Torrance, allegedly embezzled half a million dollars and used it for trips and gambling. She further admitted "lulling St. James School and the administration into believing that the school's finances were being properly accounted for and its financial assets properly safeguarded,'' which allowed her to maintain access to the school's finances. }); U.S. District Judge Otis D . Over the course of the scheme, Kreuper admitted to causing $825,339 in losses to St. James Catholic School. 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. She will appear for an arraignment at the United States District Court on July 1. 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. While at the organization, she was responsible for the money the school received to pay for tuition and fees as well as charitable donations. 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. A nun is pictured at Vatican's Gregorian University. Kreuper controlled accounts at a credit union, including a savings account for the school and one established to pay the . The retired principal of a Catholic elementary school in Torrance, who as a nun took a vow of poverty, pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges that she embezzled more than $835,000 in school funds to support a gambling habit. 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. ", Baby Mia Jade Riley: Parents Lani and Tom Riley speak out after dog attack killed their 5-week-old infant, Kyle Sambrook: Hiker falls 100ft to death while carrying his dog in one hand through 'appalling' weather, Bruce Willis's mom Marlene 'not sure if her son still recognizes her' as 'aggressiveness' creeps in, Julia Faustyna: 21-yr-old girl who claims to be Madeleine McCann admits to making 'pornographic videos' in past, Killer mom Lindsay Clancy was suffering from drug withdrawal and had 'worst side effects,' says friend. hitType: 'event', 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. 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. Prosecutors say that Kreuper who served as the principal of St. James' school for 28 years prior to her 2018 arrest began embezzling money from the school in 2008 when she was around 66 years old. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper admitted embezzling $835,000 from St James Catholic School in the LA suburb of Torrance. She diverted tuition to a secret account, which she used to fund casino trips, prosecutors said. Our congregation was founded in St. Louis in 1836, and since then we have formed additional communities and provinces around the world. Michael Finnegan is a Los Angeles Times reporter covering federal courts and law enforcement. In a letter addressed to parents and parishioners, he wrote, "Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana have expressed to me and asked that I convey to you, the deep remorse they each feel for their actions and ask for your forgiveness and prayers. Check out an array of spirituality resources. '', 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. She pleaded guilty toone count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering in July 2021, according to prosecutors, as part of a plea deal. 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. 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, according to . Minyvonne Burkeis a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News. eventAction: 'click_adunit' I dont feel that Im a victim in this case, he said. The St. James Catholic Church school in Torrance, California, on February 7, 2022. if(document.querySelector("#google_image_div")){ Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, of Arlington Heights in Los Angeles, was also ordered to pay $825,338 in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.. LOS ANGELES A nun who was the principal of a Catholic elementary school in Torrance was sentenced today to 12 months and one day in federal prison for stealing more than $835,000 in school funds to pay for personal expenses, including gambling trips. By Colin Groundwater June 9, 2021 Two summers ago, Sean Flynn reported a wild story for GQ about two very. 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