Nun Jailed for Gambling Funded Embezzlement
Prosecutors said Kreuper, 80, used the money to pay for gambling expenses such as casino trips and credit card charges made from 2008 until September 2018. She was instructed to pay $825,338.57 in restitution. Her order, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, would have never approved the spending. Kreuper was the principal at the school for 28 years.
Kreuper apologized to the community during sentencing on Monday. She also pleaded to the judge to grant her leniency.
According to the LA Times, Kreuper said, “I have sinned, I have broken the law, and I have no excuses,” during her sentencing on Monday.
Assistant US Attorney Poonam Kumar told the Post that the rogue nun went on frequent gambling trips across Southern California and locations like Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe. Some fellow nuns even accompanied Kreuper on some of those trips, which resulted in thousands of dollars taken from the elementary school, Kumar said.
“This was really an abuse of position of trust, right,” said Kumar. “She was the principal. She was running the school that these parents had chosen to send their children [to], and not just for the academics. Many of the letters I cited … and many of the people who spoke talked about wanting something more from their children’s education.
“They wanted to get a Catholic education with the morals and values that they believed in and that they lead their lives in, and that’s what they were looking for in the school. So there were a considerable number of parents who were very upset and obviously feeling quite betrayed. Some parents spoke today about how their kids are no longer affiliated with the church.”
In July, Kreuper pleaded guilty to the charges. She also admitted falsifying monthly and annual reports to school administration and telling employees to cover up her embezzlements.
According to Kumar, school officials were unaware Kreuper was still using two old bank accounts to divert tuition checks and other funds. The diverted checks were ca Shortly after the nun announced “You can be proud of that,” Wright said, according to the LA Times. “But somewhere along the line, you just ran completely off the road, and I think you understand that. At least I hope you do.” According to defense attorney Mark Byrne, Kreuper joined her order at the age of 18 and was an educator for 54 years. Byrne said some former St. James Catholic School Students wrote letters to the judge in support of thier former principal. “We had a lot of letters from parents and students who knew about the fact that
According to Byrne, the Order of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet already imposed “some severe and onerous” restrictions on Kreuper.
