Surely she has sinned! This is something we don’t come across every day. A California nun is heading to jail after she admitted to stealing more than $835,000 in funds from a Catholic school to pay off her credit card and gambling debts.
Between 2008 and 2018, while working as the principal of St. James Catholic School in Torrance, Los Angeles, Kreuper allegedly diverted tuition fees and donations into a savings account.
She then used the money to support gambling binges and casino trips, according to ABC7.
Court documents stated that the money was used to pay off “large gambling expenses incurred at casinos and certain credit card charges.”
During her time at the Los Angeles seminary, the errant nun admitted to taking $835,000 to pay her gambling.
The US attorney’s office went on to say that Kreuper lied about her “fraudulent conduct” by falsifying monthly and annual reports.
When St. James’ School was being audited, she even ordered her deputies to change and destroy financial records so that no evidence of her thievery would be discovered.
In July of last year, the sister finally confessed, pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
During a virtual conference on Monday, Judge Otis D. Wright II sentenced her to one year in jail and ordered the former principal to pay $825,338 in restitution.
Prosecutors had suggested a more severe sentence of 24 months in prison and three years of supervised release, ABC7 reports.
Meanwhile, Kreuper’s defense argued that she suffered “from mental illness that clouded her judgment and caused her to do something that she otherwise would not have done”.
According to the Associated Press, a repentant Kreuper addressed the court via video link.
“I have sinned, I’ve broken the law and I have no excuses,” said the nun.
“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 told the court, adding: “I was wrong and I’m profoundly sorry for the pain and suffering I’ve caused so many people.”
Source: vt.co
