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. The nuns funneled hundreds of thousands of fundraising dollars into a shell account to support a gambling habit. Their crimes came to light in 2018, and earlier this week, Kreuper pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and money laundering.
At the time of Flynn’s reporting, St. James School estimated the two women embezzled around $500,000. Ultimately Kreuper admitted to stealing over $835,000. Most of the money came from school fundraisers; some came from a tuition hike. 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.
Retired Nun Allegedly Stole $875k from School to Pay For Gambling Trips
On 6/9/21 at 10:46 AM EDT
A retired nun and Catholic elementary school principal will plead guilty, after she allegedly stole over $835,000 from the school to pay for gambling trips and personal expenses.
Mary Margaret Kreuper, 79, was charged Tuesday with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney s office for the Central District of California.
Kreuper faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison.
Kreuper was the principal of the St. James Catholic School in Torrance, California for 28 years. She retired in 2018 from the school that was overseen by the St. James church in Redondo Beach.