The vow leads a nun to imitate Jesus, who for our sake became poor, although he was rich. Michael Meyers, the pastor at St. James Church. (RELATED: Nuns Allegedly Stole Catholic School Funds For Years: Report). Were those functions to be considered ministerial, Fisher says, the results would be dire. The embezzlement helped to fuel her gambling habit. Recap: Court Weighs Whether Religious Schools Can Fire Lay Workers, Listen Live: Supreme Court Arguments Schedule, Top 5 Moments From The Supreme Court's 1st Week Of Livestreaming Arguments, Fervor Vs Compromise At Supreme Court Birth Control Arguments, Supreme Court Arguments A Tech Success, But Format Strangles Usual Give-And-Take, Supreme Court Considers Anti-Prostitution Pledge In HIV/AIDS Funding Case. I promised her I would see this through," he says. A Los Angeles nun jailed for stealing more than $800,000 to fund a gambling habit has admitted "I have sinned". 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. (RNS) Recently Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, a Catholic nun who stole $835,000 from a Catholic elementary school in Torrance, California, was sent to prison for a year and ordered to pay the . 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. But, Fisher counters, that "this isn't something you measure with a stopwatch." 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. 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. Other parents remarked it was well-known that Kreuper and Chang traveled often and went gambling, with the two women claiming they were gifted the trips by a rich relative. She admitted to taking a total of $835,000 in donations from the elementary school, and faces up to 40 years in federal prison. I wanted them to see me," he says "and I just pray that the justices see the right way.". This article was published more than1 year ago. At least, thats where they caught her. It's very disturbing. Image Via Scott Varley/Digital First Media/ Torrance Daily Breeze via Getty Images. At least I hope you do.. The Los Angeles native embezzled more than $835,000 from the Catholic school in Torrance, Calif., where she was principal to pay for 10 years of personal expenses, including her many gambling trips to Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe, according to federal prosecutors. An 80-year-old nun who gambled away more than $835,000 in school funds was sentenced to twelve months and a day in federal prison Monday, according to a press release from the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison, months after she admitted to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from St. James Catholic School in Torrance . 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 . Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering on Tuesday and has agreed to a plea deal, according to a release from the U.S. attorneys office for the Central District of California. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79,of Los Angeles, was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering on Tuesday for defraudingSt. James Catholic Schoolover a period of 10 years. You can be proud of that, he said. This material may not be reproduced without permission. Kreuper pleaded guilty last July. "You don't want the government deciding who teaches religion we don't do that in this country that's why we have an establishment clause," says Rassbach. 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". "I wanted to face them. Her husband said that in her final days, the couple talked extensively about the case. Kreuper admitted embezzling about $835,000 (616,000) in donations, tuition and fee money between 2008 and 2018. She just enjoyed gambling, he said. The embezzlement helped to fuel her gambling habit. 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. That was the first clue that unraveled a significant scheme. A retired nun has admitted to embezzling $835,000 over 10 years from a Catholic school in California to fund her gambling habit, according to federal prosecutors. The exception extends to religiously affiliated institutions when they fire employees who serve in a religious capacity akin to that of a minister. "https:" : "http:") + '//www.zergnet.com/zerg.js?id=47402'; By signing up to the Blaze News newsletter you agree to receive electronic communications from Blaze Media that may sometimes include advertisements or sponsored content. This is because, as part of the plea deal, the prosecutors have agreed to recommend to the court an "offense level" of 25 for Kreuper's crimes, and will further advise the court to reduce that to 23, or even 22. Make sure you see our stories daily directly to your inbox. Kristen Biel would return to teaching elsewhere while fighting her case in court, but in June 2019, she died. When staff members finally found the check, they realized that it was not deposited in a St. James account, but a different bank account. Kreuper retired as principal of St. James' Catholic School in 2018, after holding that position for 28 years. Now, nearly three years later, she faces up to 40 years in prison and will appear in the Federal District Court in Los Angeles on July 1. Is A Hot Dog A Sandwich? The purpose is to protect leaders of the faith, and their religions, from interference by the government. 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. The church body in the case commissions teachers as ministers, but does not ordain them. But they asserted that the courts should dismiss the cases because the teachers were essentially ministers, and thus were not protected under the federal employment laws. Ultimately, "they are not people we understand to be spiritual leaders of the church.". The two would skim money off of the top through separate school bank accounts and then head out to Vegas and put it into the casinos. At Monday's argument, Stanford law professor Jeff Fisher, who is representing the teachers, will tell the justices that by the terms of the teachers' contracts and the school handbooks, these teachers were hired to teach academic subjects. 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. The St. James Catholic Church school in Torrance, California, on February 7, 2022. We do know that they had a pattern of going on trips, we do know they had a pattern of going to casinos, and the reality is, they used the account as their personal account, Marge Graf, an attorney representing St. James, told a group of parents at a meeting in 2018. Meyers reported it to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, who hired their own auditor. "I have sinned," Sister Mary told a US . Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper, who worked as the school principal for 28 years, and Sister Lana Chang, a teacher at the school for 20 years, reportedly bilked the funds over a period of at least a decade, the Press-Telegram reported. Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang were seen as two of the strictest nuns at St James Catholic School in Torrance, California. 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 signed the plea agreement, which Snopes has obtained and which can be read in full here, on June 2, 2021. ", "Just as teaching science out of a fifth-grade textbook doesn't make them scientists, teaching religion for 40 minutes a day out of a workbook doesn't make them ministers," he says. var znscr = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; 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. According to the outlet, "Kreuper acknowledged diverting money to pay for personal expenses that included credit card charges and 'large gambling expenses incurred at casinos,' the U.S. attorney's office said.". var zergnet = document.createElement('script'); On Monday night, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles told parents and alumni at a meeting that Sisters Mary Margaret Kreuper and Lana Chang, described as best friends, took around $500,000 from St . Because the funds were to be restored, the archdiocese decided not to press criminal charges. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. The 80-year-old nun also was ordered to pay a total of. The first teacher, Agnes Morrissey-Berru, claimed her employment contract was not renewed after 16 years service because of illegal age discrimination. 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. Though he acknowledges that the teachers taught religion from a workbook about three hours a week, Fisher says these teachers were "primarily lay employees" teaching "secular subjects. Prosecutors say the nun also ordered school employees to alter and destroy financial records during the audit. Although, formally speaking, Kreuper could face a punishment of up to 40 years in prison, it's unlikely she will receive such a long sentence. She must give up the right to control or benefit from personal property and commits herself to live interdependently within a community. Earlier in June, the former principal of St. James School was charged with wire fraud and money laundering. 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. "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. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. 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