She served as the schools principal for 29 years. The sisters stole a total of $500,000, or half a million dollars, officials said. When Mary Margaret Bartock was born about 1938, her father, Steve, was 39, and her mother, Elizabeth, was 29. Kreuper was the schools principal for 29 years. Basically, for the last three and a half years, shes been driving her fellow sisters to doctors appointments and things like that. Since 1957, GQ has inspired men to look sharper and live smarter with its unparalleled coverage of style, culture, and beyond. Kevin Kearns, who enrolled his son in kindergarten in 2011, says he has used this as a teachable moment and asked for leniency for Kreuper, the LA Times reported. 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. A Los Angeles nun jailed for stealing more than $800,000 to fund a gambling habit has admitted "I have sinned". 178.79.131.117 GQ may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Crime Calif. Nun, 80, Sentenced for Stealing More than $800K from Catholic School to Fund Gambling Addiction Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper pleaded guilty for using funds to pay for. Sister Kreuper who took a vow of poverty confessed to using the embezzled funds to pay for personal expenses, including her gambling habit. But the Catholic church is glad to have a scandal that doesn't involve boy-rape, so they've got that going for them. A disgraced nun who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Los Angeles Catholic elementary school and went on Vegas gambling sprees will be reciting her penance from inside a federal prison cell. She basically was able to keep them secret and the school administration was never the wiser that there were these extra funds that she was taking, Kumar told The Post. 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. Officials said the sisters were in charge of collecting checks and depositing them into the schools account. She said that she diverted school funds into the St. James convent account and then into its federal credit union savings account. They did not necessarily overlook, but asked to judge her more by her entire life rather than the theft from by St. James (Catholic School). The embezzlement helped to fuel her gambling habit. For a period of 10 years starting in 2008, Kreuper embezzled money from St. James Catholic School where she was the school's principal, a position she held for 28 years. 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. Sisters Mary Margaret Krueper, left, and Lana Chang. Besides, both the nuns in question were in positions of trust. The nuns funneled hundreds of thousands of fundraising dollars into a shell account to support a gambling habit. Anyone can read what you share. But many parents were furious when they discovered the diocese had decided not to press charges against Kreuper because she had shown remorse.. That order has also paid for Kreupers living expenses for multiple decades. 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LOS ANGELES, CA The retired principal of a Catholic elementary school in Torrance, who as a nun took a vow of poverty, was sentenced Monday to 12 months and a day behind bars for embezzling more than $835,000 in school funds to support a gambling habit and other personal expenses. It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our father, Richard D. Stabile. She also admitted to falsifying monthly and annual financial reports, and to telling school employees to alter and destroy financial records during an audit, the prosecutors statement and court documents said. We were an ATM, and people know it and they wont ask for justice, Jack Alexander, a father at the school, said. Kreuper used her position to funnel $835,339 of the schools 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 the plea agreement. Some parents said they planned to go to the police as a complaining party. The rich uncle was the parents of the St. James students," he said. Thanks for contacting us. Kreupers crimes occurred during her role as the schools principal, a position from which she retired in 2018. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, was sentenced to one year and one day for fraud and money laundering. Play Slots for Real Money at Wild Casino Right Now! But not all the parishioners were as understanding. Shawn Christopher Flannery, age 50 of Batesville, passed away January 28, 2023 at Margaret Mary Health after a long battle with cancer. Regardless, dont trust any nun who absolutely crushes Texas Holdem, and read Flynns original story here. 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. So shes basically under house arrest, which she accepts.. "I've used this to teach my son that we're all human, we all make mistakes, but the power of forgiveness is the most powerful tool that we have. According to local news outlet KTLA5, Kreuper was aided by Sister Lana Chang, who taught eighth grade and was vice-principal at the school. There have been calls among some parents for the pair to be charged while others said they should be forgiven. Heres what you need to know: An internal investigation found that over several years, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang used funds set aside for St. James Catholic School. 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.. Kreuper is also accused of directing school employees to alter and destroy financial records while the audit was in process. Sisters of St. Joseph of CarondeletSister Lana Chang worked alongside Sister Kreuper for 20 years, at least 10 of which they spent embezzling the schools money together. But all the while, they were using school funds to pay for their jaunts. And wasnt it even weirder that she was going to Vegas all the time? Kreuper was only exposed when she retired in 2018 and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles noted some irregularities in the schools bookkeeping while searching for her replacement. Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Last updated on: February 7, 2022, 08:42h. She currently faces up to 40 years in federal prison with a court date set for July 1. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. This was really an abuse of position of trust, right, Kumar said. Kreuper even took fellow nuns on some of those excursions and spent thousands of the elementary schools money, Kumar said. In California, a septuagenarian nun faces up to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal fraud and money laundering charges. As a Catholic nun, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper had taken a vow of poverty. What are the details? Until this last spring, Kreuper was the principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance and Chang was. ", But a 12-year-old said Kreuper was "just like any other robber.". The fraud came to light after the accused, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang . Many of the letters I cited and many of the people who spoke, talked about wanting something more from their childrens education. One man, whose children attend St James, grumbled that the nuns had been using the school as if it was their own private ATM. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? 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, her lawyers told The Guardian. 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. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper admitted embezzling $835,000 from St James Catholic School in the LA suburb of Torrance. Our Sisters take full responsibility for the choices they made and are subject to the law., The order said that they were imposing their own kind of punishment on Kreuper and on Chang: Canonical Restrictions have been imposed. ", The judge advised Kreuper that he expected her to make a statement at sentencing, adding, "I don't have to worry about (lies) coming from you.". Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times/Getty ImagesSister Mary Kreuper served as the principal at St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California, for 28 years. "At our school, we have initiated additional procedures and oversight policies for financial management and reporting responsibilities," Meyers wrote. The statement also condemned the embezzlement, saying, we will not defend the actions of our Sisters. "This is not an excuse for what she did," he said. Sister Mary Margaret worked at the school for 29 years. Let us pray for our school families and for Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana," Myers added . At OUSC you will find the most trusted sites to play with cash and the best real money games. "I was wrong, and I am profoundly sorry for the pain and the suffering that I have caused so many people.". According to The New York Times, the 79-year-old retired nun was just recently charged with wire fraud and money laundering. A routine audit upon her retirement raised "several red . Kreuper claimed the school was always strapped for cash, then funneled donations into shell accounts that she and Chang would use to fund trips to Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe. We've received your submission. Parents said the two nuns were big on moral fortitude and that they were very hard on kids who slipped up and broke the rules. A great part of her early education came from her mother, who consulted the Spanish humanist Juan Luis Vives for advice and commissioned him to write De Institutione Feminae Christianae, a treatise on the . She diverted school funds into the St. James Convent Account and the St. James Savings Account, which were used "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," the Department of Justice stated. In a statement on Tuesday about Sister Mary Margarets guilty plea, the archdiocese said the revelations had shocked and saddened the community. She alone will face criminal charges. Sister Mary Margaret admitted to a fraudulent scheme in which she lulled St. James School and the administration into believing that the schools finances were being properly accounted for and its financial assets properly safeguarded, prosecutors said. Two nuns have admitted to embezzling money from the Catholic school where they worked and using the cash to fund gambling sprees. But Sister Mary said that she was extremely remorseful and humbled. For Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, the rest of her mortal life will be decided in a few short weeks. He was unhappy with the churchs decision not to prosecute. Meanwhile, she would falsify monthly and annual reports to cover up her conduct. 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. By Megan Carpentier The St. James Catholic Church school in Torrance, California, on February 7, 2022. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper admits to stealing over $835k from a Catholic School. Thats why it came as a shock to many when the two sisters were accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the schools funds and using it to gamble in Las Vegas. Sister Mary Margaret was charged on Tuesday with wire fraud and money laundering while she was the principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, Calif., the office of the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California said in a statement. By Colin Groundwater June 9, 2021 Two summers ago, Sean Flynn reported a wild story for GQ about two very. "Pop Dick Stabile ", as he was known to those who loved . Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, first made headlines in 2018 after she and another nun were found to have taken as much as $500,000 to finance gambling trips to Las As principal, Kreuper was responsible for the money the school garnered in tuition, fees, and charitable donations. "I apologize for the public scandal, the embarrassment and the financial burden that I have placed on the sisters in my religious community, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, St. James School, the parishioners, parents and students who placed their trust in me," she said. Los Angeles Archdiocese of Los Angeles Gambling nuns nuns Las Vegas Saint James Catholic School . On December 10, the order issued a statement about the charges of financial misdoings. Two summers ago, Sean Flynn reported a wild story for GQ about two very badly behaved nuns: Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, and Sister Lana Chang, a principal and a teacher at St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper embezzled $835,339 in the schools tuition, fees, and charitable donations for her personal expenses. And I don't look at nuns as ordinary people. He said some former St. James Catholic School students even wrote letters to the judge in support of their former teacher and principal. At the time of Flynns reporting, St. James School estimated the two women embezzled around $500,000. Kumar added Kreupers scheme was revealed after the school performed an informal audit shortly after the nun announced she would be retiring as principal in 2018. 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. Church officials expressed willingness to forgive the two sisters for embezzling half a million dollars from the church. When Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper was 18 years old, she vowed to dedicate her life to the education of children and helping those in need. Police have been informed but the Archdiocese does not intend to pursue criminal proceedings against the sisters. One of the things she said when she was first confronted by the LA Archdiocese and even before law enforcement got involved was she did it in part because she believes priests get paid better than nuns, Kumar told The Post. ; Pop Dick Stabile & quot ; Myers added upon her retirement raised & quot ;, as was! 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