Similar articles were published by the Los Angeles Times, KTLA, and Unilad.co.uk. 5 Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, of Los Angeles, was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering Credit: KCAL 9 5 66 is still a fairly competent age. Instead of sitting in the Supreme Court chamber, though, Biel, like the rest of us, will be at home listening. This time the question is whether lay teachers at parochial schools are exempt from the nation's fair employment laws. 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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. German cardinal offers to resign over sexual abuse catastrophe, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. In 2012, the Supreme Court sought to answer that question, agreeing unanimously that a fourth-grade teacher who was commissioned as a minister could not sue over her firing by a Lutheran school. Kreuper as the schools principal, handled all tuition payments, with the sister depositing checks into a separate account that she and Chang had access to. In June 2021, Mary Margaret Kreuper, a Catholic nun in the Los Angeles congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. District Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, whereby she committed to pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, and admitted taking part in a 10-year scheme to defraud St. James' Catholic School, an elementary school in Torrance, California, where she had served as principal for 28 years, to the amount of $835,000. Kreuper took fellow nuns on some of those trips and spent thousands of the primary school's money. By Megan Carpentier. He said he could not bring himself to judge Kreuper solely on "the worst thing that she's done in her life", the LA Times said. Poonam Kumar, the assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California who prosecuted the case, told The Washington Post that Kreuper had diverted checks and cash from St. James parents into a long-overlooked church account to pay for large gambling expenses incurred at casinos and certain credit-card charges. The actions were done before the money could be accounted for, displaying repetitive and deceptive behavior, over and over again, the prosecutor said. "She's 80. Cyclist falls to her death after drawbridge opens while shes on it, Trump tells Joe Rogan to stop apologizing for Spotify controversies, Frozen out of GoFundMe, Canadian protest convoy raises millions on Christian sit. Police will still present the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office, NBC reported. She claimed that the salary differential between nuns and priests meant she was owed this money, which is inconsistent with the vow of poverty she took.. Sister Kreuper who took a vow of poverty confessed to using the embezzled funds to pay for personal expenses, including her gambling habit. The purpose is to protect leaders of the faith, and their religions, from interference by the government. This article was published more than1 year ago. The rich uncle was the parents of the St. James students.. Kreuper, who took vows of poverty at age 18 and spent 59 years in the religious order, said in her plea agreement that she had begun diverting money from the schools tuition and donation account to a savings account that funded the living expenses of the nuns who worked at the school and then used some of the money herself. According to Newstalk.com, the school indicated in a letter to parents at the time that they did not want to pursue criminal charges against the duo, after they both expressed "desire and inten[t] to make complete restitution to St. James School.". But the court's eventual decision could reach beyond teachers, affecting the lives of millions of other employees who work for religiously affiliated institutions. She then used some of the funds to pay for "large gambling expenses incurred at casinos and certain credit card charges.. I have sinned, I have broken the law and I have no excuses, Kreuper told the judge during her hearing, according to the Los Angeles Times. In the process, Kreuper falsified monthly and annual reports to the St. James 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. "These teachers taught the Catholic faith to these kids more than the parish priest," putting them squarely within the so-called ministerial exception, he says. Sister Mary is not full of grace. These nuns took a vow of poverty and said, oh no, weve got a rich uncle, one parent told the Press-Telegram. St. James teacher Lana Chang admitted along with Kreuper to the embezzlement in 2018, following each of their retirements earlier that year. For more information about our use of cookies, our collection, use, and disclosure of personal information generally, and any rights you may have to access, delete, or opt out of the sale of your personal information, please view our, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. var zergnet = document.createElement('script'); Kreuper is due in court on 1 July and faces up to 40 years in federal prison. James Convent, not St. Kreuper as the school's principal, handled all tuition payments, with the sister depositing checks into a separate . I wanted to see them. The account was opened in 1997 but had not been used in years, until Sister Mary Margaret started diverting checks into the forgotten account. Kreuper retired as principal of St. James' Catholic School in 2018, after holding that position for 28 years. It wasnt until the house of cards came crashing down that she realized what she had done and started to go therapy, where she realized this addiction was a contributing factor. We use cookies to better understand website visitors, for advertising, and to offer you a better experience. When first confronted by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper blamed the gender pay gap and said she deserved a raise because "priests get paid better than nuns". All rights reserved. According to prosecutors, Kreuper admitted that she 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.. The exception extends to religiously affiliated institutions when they fire employees who serve in a religious capacity akin to that of a minister. 15 Episodes of Seinfeld That Teach Everything You Need To Know About Life. Is A Hot Dog A Sandwich? They have been removed from their residence, placed in a religious house under the supervision of community leadership, and their freedom of movement is confined.". Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper admits to stealing over $835k from a Catholic School. 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 parents and alumni at Mondays meeting. The 79-year-old former nun pleaded guilty to federal charges for stealing more than $800,000 from St. James Catholic School earlier this month. When this was going on, she was not nearly as old. Each of the counts carries a maximum sentence of 40 years behind bars. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. Were those functions to be considered ministerial, Fisher says, the results would be dire. Kreuper, he said, quoting an expert, was addicted to gambling, adding that it "is not an excuse for what she did merely an explanation". The archdiocese of Los Angeles said in statement that the community of faith at St James was shocked and saddened by these actions and expressed gratitude to local and federal law enforcement agencies for their work in the investigation of this matter. We've received your submission. Maybe if she had used her poker face to see more success in Vegas, she wouldnt have been in this position to begin with. Maryland man, 52, sues bar over ban cause he was old Missouri daughter secretly donates kidney to ailing dad. My actions were in violation of my vows, my commandments, the law and, above all, the sacred trust that so many had placed in me. She must give up the right to control or benefit from personal property and commits herself to live interdependently within a community. But, Fisher counters, that "this isn't something you measure with a stopwatch." A now-retired nun has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $800,000 from the St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, from 2008 to 2018, the last decade of her 28-year tenure as principal of the institution.Sister Kreuper who took a vow of poverty confessed to using the . Her attorney said Kreuper will be on supervised release for two years once her prison sentence is complete. During the time period this was happening, she had no idea this was happening. She doesn't have any money. Pic: St James Catholic School. Eric Rassbach of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, who is representing the schools before the court, disagrees. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, of Los Angeles, was sentenced Monday to one year and one day for fraud and money laundering charges. In her plea agreement, Sister Mary Margaret confirmed that the stolen money was used for credit card charges and large gambling expenses incurred at casinos. the U.S. attorneys office said. The fraud was discovered after an internal investigation at the end of the same year. Mr Kumar said that jealousy played a part, calling the episode "really an abuse of position of trust". Along with her sentence, she was ordered to pay $825,338 in restitution. The Torrancepair used the money for vacations and gambling at the casino while telling parents that the school was on a tight budget. Two nuns who formerly worked at St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, confessed to embezzling at least $500,000 from the school so that they could gamble it away at Las Vegas casinos, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said at a meeting with parents and alumni on Monday. But Fisher counters that function can't be the only criterion because many employers at religiously affiliated institutions sincerely believe that all of their employees perform important ministerial functions, from nurses who care for the sick, to summer camp counselors for troubled teenagers, and athletic coaches who mold the character of their charges and often lead them in prayer. Julija Garunkstis, a St. James mother who attended the school between 2005 and 2014, said Kreuper had shaken her faith. Ultimately, he argues, the schools consider the teachers to be performing an important religious function, and therefore, they can be fired for any reason because they are not subject to the nation's fair employment laws. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty. She admitted to taking a total of $835,000 in donations from the elementary school, and faces up to 40 years in federal prison. These nuns took a vow of poverty and said, Oh no, weve got a rich uncle, parent Jack Alexander said. She wanted more than she had.. 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. James School, before tapping the funds for personal use. A spokesperson for the order confirmed for Snopes that, as of June 9, 2021, Kreuper was still a member of the Los Angeles congregation, but the restrictions against her remained in place, and she was no longer involved in any public ministry. Dan Mac Guill is a former writer for Snopes. This was a manifestation of greed, Kumar said, adding that the nun had abused the trust of the community. "Such action interferes with the internal governance of the church, depriving the church of control over the selection of those who will personify its beliefs.". The judges sentencing came as detractors and supporters showed up over Zoom to testify against or pledge their support for Kreuper, who had been a nun for 62 years. In the audio, as well as in a previous Web version, of this story, we incorrectly say the fourth-grade teacher in a 2012 case was ordained as a minister. Sister Mary Margaret was making bank (very illegally) through laundering and threw everyone off of the scent by reminding them of her vow of poverty. Investigators described a system in which Kreuper handled all checks made out to the school for tuition and fees before handing them over to bookkeeping staff for processing. As headteacher at St James Catholic School, which she ran for 28 years, she "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", prosecutors said. (deployads = window.deployads || []).push({}); (function() { Nuns should realize that just by living their lives and living the way they do and treating people the way they do, they affect children for the rest of their lives, the judge said, according to the Los Angeles Times. The church body in the case commissions teachers as ministers, but does not ordain them. Sister Mary Margaret became a nun when she turned 18 in 1960 and took a vow of poverty. A Los Angeles nun recently pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $800,000. Kreuper also admitted to falsifying monthly and annual reports to the school administration in an effort to cover up the embezzlement. As principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, she certainly did but while also embezzling more than $835,000 in funds to support her secretive gambling habit. Margaret Mary Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang were accused of embezzling tuition, fees, and donations made in favor of St. James Catholic School to fund their gambling trips (Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet) Kreuper is also accused of directing St. James School employees to alter and destroy financial records during a school audit. Those reports were accurate, and we are issuing a rating of "True.". Starting in 2008, Kreuper diverted school funds to pay for expenses that the order would not have approved, much less paid for, prosecutors say. The sisters, described as best friends, both retired earlier this year. 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.". It's just that you have to look and see what kind of function are they doing.". If these teachers are exempt, he adds, then millions of employees are automatically exempt from laws enacted by Congress to protect workers, simply because they perform some duty their employer considers religious. An old unused bank account was the giveaway. Indeed, he observes, they would be exempt not just from anti-discrimination laws, but also laws that protect individuals from retaliation when they report misbehavior to authorities, and laws imposing wage and hour regulations. 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