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00:00you know in this case the thing that was interesting is not so much how the money
00:07got there but who was doing it back down with the major shock at a catholic parish in california
00:13one of the ten commandments is thou shalt not steal a lesson the archdiocese says was
00:19apparently ignored they stole more than three million dollars and reportedly used the money
00:27for lavish trips to las vegas
00:29we lost sleep i mean it was so unbelievable to us look at what the priest did they do not always
00:39tell the truth they do not always do the right thing where does this go like how many people
00:45are involved in this is it one person or is this a criminal enterprise this is like the movie sister
00:52act in real life it's begging to be made into a musical you can just see them now rosary beads
00:57in one hand full house in the other right
00:59joyful joyful we adore thee god of glory lord of love
01:22the music numbers you will hear are inspired by stories we've been told nothing said should be
01:46we interpret it as facts we're saying only god knows
01:54only god knows
02:01we all got duped
02:04and i'll do our god
02:25We had bought a house in Torrance as we had our first child.
02:50The inevitable conversation from other people with kids was, where are you going to put
02:53your children?
02:56My wife grew up and had a wonderful connection with her church and her school.
03:00St. James has been here for over a hundred years.
03:03It just made a lot of sense for us.
03:07The school goes kindergarten through eighth grade.
03:10It's very well known, very well respected, and as a young parent, this history, this lineage,
03:16this reverence people have for the church is something we wanted to be part of.
03:21We wanted discipline and structure.
03:24We wanted that moral base of right from wrong.
03:29Don't cheat.
03:30Don't steal.
03:31Don't lie.
03:32I was coaching soccer and coaching the football, basketball, golf teams.
03:36He was PTA president for how many years?
03:38For a lot of years.
03:40The school could call on us and we would do it.
03:44You know, it takes a village and that was the village we chose.
03:50So when you go to St. James school, as opposed to going to public school, there are tuitions.
03:54In addition to tuition, there's all sorts of different fundraisers for various needs at
03:58the school.
03:59This is the way to do it.
04:03Parents would sign a contract to support to a certain dollar volume.
04:07We had the big red raffle.
04:09We had the jog-a-thon.
04:11I liked the gift wrap.
04:13I'm a shopper.
04:15Father Jim was a priest who was also a very good golfer and so obviously we came up with
04:19a golf tournament.
04:23And we would come back to the school.
04:25We have a poker tournament.
04:27We call it Father Jim's Big Saloon.
04:32And the biggest fundraiser of all was the Harvest Festival.
04:35And this was more or less a weekend-long carnival with rides, food booths, a beer and wine garden.
04:41That was a lot of fun.
04:43You were happy to do it and you felt good about doing it because you believed that what you
04:47did was going to benefit the school and the community.
04:53In terms of the money, we kept raising it.
04:55In the first couple of years, you're like, yeah, it takes a while to raise money to see
04:59the end result.
05:02But then you hear the teachers complaining they haven't had a raise in years.
05:06You see the books the kids are looking at, like, we're not getting new books.
05:11Going to school at St. James, I wouldn't say it was fancy at all, kind of homey, I guess,
05:15like, you know, not extravagant at all.
05:17Some of the books were very beat up, very old.
05:19The parents wanted a covered awning over the benches where the kids would eat their
05:25lunch.
05:26First days of summer, it's like 90 degrees.
05:29We're just super hot.
05:30The response was, it was too expensive.
05:36Things that were important to the families weren't addressed.
05:40They were just ignored.
05:45We're being told, we need more money, we don't have enough, and tuition's going up each year.
05:52And I could see the money coming in.
05:55Where's this money going?
05:58Dun-dun-dun!
06:00Miss Mary Mack, all dressed in black, with silver buttons
06:06All down her back.
06:08Now here's a tale that you should hear about some cash that disappeared.
06:16About some cash that disappeared
06:19The story begins at St. James
06:23A devout Catholic school
06:25A sunny place, full of grace
06:28Leaders teach God's rules
06:30Learning to read and to write and obey
06:34God's word is our life's work
06:37So of course, we listen to what they say
06:41Our parents pay tuition
06:43They value the mission
06:45Nutrition isn't apples
06:47It's moral condition
06:50One, two
06:51That's why they pay the yearly fee
06:57So we can stay pure and holy
07:03If the conditions of the classroom are always rough
07:07While our parents raise money
07:09And it's never enough for no field trips
07:11No extras that acquire money
07:13Doesn't that story smell a little funny?
07:15Where's that money if we don't get somey?
07:17Who does this thief think we are, big dummies?
07:20That's right, you know it's getting real
07:21Just wait till you hear the blasphemous of your life
07:24Was it a nun, a sinful dad
07:27A mom who's mad
07:29Or a priest gone bad?
07:32We're talking big sums stolen
07:34Millions of dollars
07:35Belonged to the school
07:36We could've been ballers
07:38Could've had laptops
07:39Swagged out, busts
07:40And said we got swaddled by someone devious
07:43Everyone's a suspect in our minds
07:45Hail Mary time
07:47Let's figure out who committed this crime
07:49Divine intuition
07:51Gives us a new mission
07:54Gives us a new mission
07:55Let's go!
07:56Do you remember the priest and nuns from your five years?
08:09Yeah, so we had Father John
08:11And then Father Jim was like the main one
08:14Huge Notre Dame fan
08:15The nuns, I had three years with Sister Lana
08:19She was an English teacher
08:20She was very particular about like the rules and like structure
08:23Everyone was very disciplined
08:26We'll use that word
08:27Sister Lana was the eighth grade teacher
08:30And also the vice principal of the school
08:33She wasn't very friendly
08:35I'll just leave it at that
08:38Oh, she's the worst teacher on campus
08:41She just would smile to the parents
08:43And be mean to the kids
08:50And then there's Sister Mary Margaret
08:55Sister Mary Margaret was the principal
08:59Boy, how do you describe Sister Mary Margaret?
09:02She seemed like she could be a tough grandma
09:08Hearty, not super tall
09:11Nothing fancy about her
09:13No makeup, of course
09:14Little bit of that bulldog kind of mentality
09:18But she really cared
09:23Sister Mary Margaret, I'll tell you point blank
09:25She's probably one of the best bosses I ever had
09:27A mentor, she's a friend
09:30If we were having something going on in our personal life
09:32We could go to her and ask for some guidance
09:34She knew the families inside and out
09:37And she was very giving
09:39She's a nun
09:40And she's taken vows of chastity and poverty
09:44She doesn't get a salary, they get a stipend
09:47They give you housing, transportation, and food
09:50And she did a lot of real work
09:53But it's not easy because you're dealing with a few hundred kids
09:59And every kid's different
10:02And every parent's got a demand for their kids to be the best student
10:05Or the smartest athlete
10:07You're dealing with the staff
10:09You're dealing with the budget
10:11You're answering to the archdiocese
10:13You're answering to the teachers
10:15You're answering to the teachers
10:16That need better, you know, support in the classrooms
10:18Or more help
10:22In 2018, we were hearing rumors she was going to retire
10:27I would always call her
10:28And go visit with her in the office
10:30Because I wanted to see her
10:31I was very fond of her
10:33Sister Mary Margaret, why are you retiring?
10:35And she blamed it on the parents
10:36You know, the new parents
10:38And their kids are entitled
10:39And I just can't deal with them
10:40And they're just not doing anything they're supposed to do
10:42And it's just time
10:4830 years of
10:51Good morning, Sister Mary Margaret
10:54What's so good about it?
10:57Always had to be governed by good
11:01Strict to the children who don't act as they should
11:05Play
11:07You know, these parents complain
11:11Being in charge of this school makes me grey
11:17It's been sacrifice and strife
11:21And I just want more from this life
11:26When, when do I get my
11:32My, I, I think that now, now's my time
11:44To hang on my veil
11:46And veil
11:48There was never anything that was off until
12:00Until Sister Mary Margaret was retiring
12:03Each of us at St. James School
12:06Follow the call of Jesus
12:08As we continue his work in the world today
12:11My prayer is that the school will carry on the rich traditions
12:16Of faith, academic excellence, and service
12:27That's when everything hit the fan
12:29There was a check
12:44That the secretary at the school needed to get for another family member
12:49This happens quite often
12:51Family comes, they're gonna go there, and then something changes
12:54But they had already gone through the whole process of being accepted
12:57And the next step after being accepted is you give them a check
12:59You give them your deposit
13:00Well, they backed out
13:02They asked for the check back
13:04The secretary got the check
13:07The account number on the back of the check
13:09Was not an account number for the school
13:12Then the parents go back
13:15And they start pulling their canceled checks
13:17And you're turning them over
13:18And they didn't match
13:19Account numbers didn't match
13:21And some had stamps
13:22It said St. James School
13:24And then some had handwritten St. James School
13:27And then sometimes it just said SJS
13:30What am I looking at?
13:35Clearly, there's bigger things at play here
13:46My name is Tyler Hatcher
13:47I'm the Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Los Angeles
13:50We track the money
13:52We're really good at figuring out
13:54How did the money get generated?
13:56What happened to it?
13:57Where did it go?
13:58What did it pay for?
13:59Who touched it?
14:00Who owns it?
14:01All those types of things
14:02If you're put in a position of trust when it comes to money
14:05And you break that trust
14:06We will find you
14:07And we will aggressively investigate you
14:11The Archdiocese of Los Angeles
14:13Their policy is they do an audit
14:15At the end of a principal's term
14:17Whether that be one year
14:19Or two years
14:20Or ten years
14:21Or fifty years
14:22Doesn't matter
14:23And Mary Margaret Cooper
14:24Made her intentions known
14:25That she wanted to retire
14:26So of course that sparked in the audit
14:28Well, the audit came out clean
14:31No money missing
14:32Everything was where it was supposed to be
14:35But something was wrong
14:37Then you started hearing these rumors
14:41About Sister Lana
14:47When we had like our big red raffle
14:49For the Harvest Festival
14:50There was a lot of cash that we put through there
14:52And more times than not
14:55Sister Lana's name would get pulled
14:57I remember one of the years Sister Lana won
15:02And it was like her second or third time winning
15:05And it's so funny to me
15:06Because I was standing next to her
15:07And she won
15:08And she would do this face
15:09Almost like the Home Alone face
15:10Like
15:11Oh my God
15:12You would hear she took this person to dinner
15:16Or that person to dinner
15:17Or bought this great gift for this person
15:21Sister Lana Chang would tell other families
15:26She was going on cruises
15:32She said Hawaii, swimming with the dolphins
15:35Mexico, Palm Springs, Las Vegas
15:40She'd say you know
15:41We went to Vegas and we had a great time
15:43So my wife's family
15:44They saw her in Vegas multiple times in the summer
15:46When I was in high school
15:48I went to Pechanga Casino down here
15:49And she was playing slots
15:55It was tough to hear that she was doing all that
15:57As we were giving to her
16:00Giving to our kids
16:01Sacrificing
16:02Constantly at the school
16:04Volunteering
16:05Not going on vacations
16:07Like all of our friends were doing
16:08We couldn't afford it
16:10Remember as a nun
16:12They don't get a salary
16:14They get a stipend
16:15The church is giving you just enough to survive
16:18What is a fun time for a nun in Vegas
16:21And who's paying for a cruise?
16:23And then you'd hear it was
16:25Lana Chang's rich uncle
16:27Paid for these things
16:28And so you try to be like
16:29Hey, where's your uncle?
16:31Could she be stealing money?
16:34From the school?
16:36The school?
16:39Oh
16:40Quiet
16:44Quiet
16:47There's always more vacations to be held
16:51There's always more vacations to be held
16:56And more luxurious things to acquire
17:01And as for my unsatiated tastes
17:06Well, I do like my things a little finer
17:10And yes, I like my clothes designer
17:16So sue me
17:18I fly first class because it's roaming
17:23I've got bad habits, yes I do
17:26Who cares about the truth? I bet you wanna do
17:30So tell me why
17:33Why can't I get mine?
17:40I think about it all the time
17:48I'm gonna take off my veil
17:51And the same
18:00You might have had suspicions about Sister Lana
18:03But because she's a nun
18:05Because she's been entrusted by the church
18:07And you've given her your children
18:09You give her the benefit of the doubt
18:14If the money's not there
18:15We'll just go raise some more money
18:16Because my kid's happy
18:17I want them to stay here
18:19This is a nice community
18:20I don't wanna cause any problems
18:22And you're young parents
18:24You just go with it
18:25And then one day I came home
18:31Just a normal day at work
18:32And my wife said
18:33We got a letter
18:35So what I have here is a copy of the actual letter
18:39That was sent home from St. James Catholic Church
18:41On November 28, 2018
18:44Dear St. James School families
18:46It is with much sadness that I am informing the families of St. James School
18:50That an internal investigation has revealed that
18:53Over a period of years
18:56Sister Mary Margaret Crouper has been involved
18:58In the personal use of a substantial amount of school funds
19:08We all got duped
19:15It wasn't Sister Lana
19:16But Sister Mary Margaret
19:19It just doesn't make sense
19:23And where is the money?
19:25There's more to
19:26Like I see the smoke
19:27Like this is smoke
19:28And where there's smoke there's fire
19:35You know it's hard to believe
19:36That this trusted leader
19:38Who had been at the helm for almost 30 years
19:40Could be stealing
19:43And the parents were on kind of two sides of the family
19:45Kind of two sides of the fence
19:48After the letter
19:49They held a meeting at the church
19:51With someone from the Archdiocese
19:52And Monsieur Mike
19:53Explaining what had happened
19:54It got very hotly contested
19:57One side of the aisle was saying
19:59We know what she did
20:00This is wrong
20:01We knew it all along
20:02We had an intuition
20:04And the other side was
20:05She's innocent
20:06We know her
20:07We trust her
20:08We're vouching for her
20:09That wasn't the Sister Mary Margaret
20:11I knew
20:12For all those years
20:13We didn't believe it
20:16We thought
20:17It's not really what it sounds like it is
20:22What a feeling to be so betrayed
20:26For all we know
20:27Sister Mary was framed
20:29It's clear she's involved
20:31And she should be ashamed
20:34A criminal, unimaginable
20:36The principle
20:37And the thief
20:38All the same
20:39But she swears
20:41Her innocence
20:42Must be an explanation
20:43I say full condemnation
20:45We believe her
20:46Don't believe her
20:47We believe her
20:48Don't believe her
20:49We believe her
20:50Don't believe her
20:51We believe her
20:52But we don't
20:53Bad habits have consequences
20:57Guilty or not
20:59Guilty or not
21:00Of her offenses
21:07When Monsignor spoke at the church
21:09It was very poorly constructed
21:13Not a lot of answers
21:15The Archdiocese didn't want to press charges
21:19It would be taken care of internally
21:21This is embarrassing for them
21:23And so they were not super thrilled about
21:25Bringing in a lot of help
21:26Making this very public
21:27They did nothing
21:29They literally
21:30Didn't know what they were doing
21:31And they didn't do anything
21:32Because I believe
21:33They didn't want anybody
21:34To hear about it
21:35It was all
21:36You can trust us
21:37Which is a bunch of BS
21:42The church
21:43Didn't want to investigate it
21:45And that's what convinced me
21:47That sister had done it
21:50That is not in line with
21:52What would be happening
21:54What would be expected of a nun
21:56In my book
21:57Or most people's book
21:59This woman that we trusted
22:01That we trusted our children with
22:03We trusted our children with
22:05Sister Mary Margaret for 16 years
22:07She was our friend
22:09She was our friend
22:10She was our friend
22:12And
22:13She used us
22:15And it felt ugly
22:17We knew
22:23Sister has to be punished
22:25For committing a crime
22:27Because she preached
22:28That there's a consequence
22:29For your actions
22:30You're supposed to be there for the good
22:34You're supposed to be living above poverty
22:36And you shouldn't be worried about money
22:38You know the fact that she's a nun and did it
22:42Shouldn't excuse what she did
22:43Bad habits have consequences
22:48Who will pay for your expenses?
22:53My god
22:55I mean she's a nun for Christ's sake
22:58She's literally the opposite of someone who should take
23:02But she's an elder
23:04What if she's lost her mind?
23:06Well whether she has or she hasn't
23:08She should pay for her crimes
23:10I say lock her up
23:12Yeah!
23:13Throw away the key
23:14Well that's not fair
23:16She deserves her dignity
23:19Bad habits have consequences
23:23If you are guilty of your offenses
23:27No more lies and empty defenses
23:31Only justice served
23:33And your prayers of repentance
23:37We can't take the high road this time
23:47This sitting sister needs to pay for her crime
24:00It pisses me off
24:01They didn't investigate it
24:03They weren't going to investigate it
24:04That's when we, the parents, all complained
24:07And went right to the Torrance Police Department
24:09Now there's an investigation
24:11It's on
24:12There's a lot of betrayal and feelings of anger
24:15Back down with some major shock
24:16At a Catholic parish in California
24:18A local nun accused of embezzling money
24:21From the St. James Catholic School of Torrance
24:23Administrators from the school didn't want to file charges against the nun
24:26Tonight some parents tell us they're furious
24:28It's a crime
24:29We are dealing with the allegation of misappropriation of funds
24:32I'd like to know what they did with the money
24:34Where does this go?
24:35Like how many people are involved in this?
24:36Is it one person?
24:37Or is this a criminal enterprise?
24:39Paper doesn't lie
24:41Surveillance doesn't lie
24:43And when you have casinos in Las Vegas
24:45Filing reports saying
24:46Hey there's winnings going on for a nun
24:48And someone else is with her
24:51That's going to raise some flags
24:53Without the parents this investigation never happens
25:03They prompted the church
25:05You need to report it
25:06We need to figure out what's going on
25:08And at that point the church starts working with Torrance Police Department
25:12They reach out to our friends over at the FBI
25:16The FBI looks at it and says hey this is a financial case
25:21You know we need some help on it
25:22So they called us
25:23And then it boils down to what can we actually prove?
25:27When we started our investigation the church at the time
25:33Were like hey this is out here but we're not going to help you basically
25:36And so for us it took some steps
25:41Starting at 4pm today the Torrance Police Department beefed up their staffing
25:45Just in case parents and families wanted to come by and give them their own evidence
25:50If anyone had any perhaps canceled checks or any type of tuition payments
25:54That they feel were compromised in any way
25:56We're requesting that they come down and speak with our detectives
25:59And provide their information
26:00They had an open house
26:02We went into rooms
26:03They made copies
26:04They took hard copies of checks
26:05It's like a jigsaw puzzle with witness interviews
26:08Records review all of the financial analysis
26:11It always starts with how was the money made or obtained in this case right?
26:17And we learned that by virtue of her position of trust
26:21Mary Margaret Kruper had access to bank accounts
26:24Her bank account that was set up
26:26Church knew about it because that's where her stipend was
26:29She also had access to this dormant savings account
26:31That had been set up years if not decades before we found out about the fraud
26:36Between the two of those once money would get in there
26:39We call it skimming right?
26:40When money comes in and you just kind of take a little bit here and there
26:43So she would take a check that was supposed to go say for tuition
26:47And put that into the bank account that she controlled
26:52And at that point we start looking at lifestyle
26:57I think initially when we started looking nothing jumped out
27:00She's a nut, she swore to poverty
27:02But the financial records were intact
27:04The bank records were all attacked
27:06From there it's pretty easy to see, right?
27:08Where's money going?
27:10We see trips to Vegas, trips to Reno, trips to Tahoe
27:13Thankfully for us we have really good relationships with a lot of casinos
27:17We have a name, we run the name and all of these casino reports pop up
27:20We know Mary Margaret Kruper likes to gamble
27:23Then we can pull up surveillance video and kind of see people coming and going
27:27And what their favorite game is and what their betting habits are
27:30And some of the other things
27:31What was her favorite game?
27:33Is she a slots lady?
27:37But most frequently we saw another nun, Lana Chang, who was with her
27:41Now take a look at this, this is Lana Chang, a woman who also worked at the school
27:54And is also implicated in the fraud case
27:56At that point you start to hear that Sister Lana Chang was put together with Sister Mary Margaret
28:02Like back in the 80s at a different school
28:04And then they were brought over to St. James together
28:06And they've been here together for like 30 years
28:09And then you find out they live together
28:11And then they travel together
28:13You don't know if their relationship's more than business
28:17And that's when that smoke became a frickin' giant fire
28:29Bad habits have consequences
28:34Time to answer all our questions
28:40It was us who took the Do-Re-Mi
28:44We are under full suspicion, don't you see?
28:47And now is the time
28:49To minimize our crime
28:51And if we just stick to our story
28:54We should be just fine
28:55Oh sure!
28:56It was too easy to skim from the top
29:00But don't go looking for the moolah
29:02It's in Vegas in the spot
29:04No!
29:05It's a gambling addiction
29:06Yes!
29:07Addiction is to blame
29:08But have compassion
29:10We're just victims of this sinful game
29:13Your habits have consequences
29:17If you are guilty of your offenses
29:21No more lies and empty defenses
29:25Only justice served
29:27And your prayers of repentance
29:31We just wanna travel
29:34The world
29:36Live freely and have fun
29:42After a lifetime of being the perfect nun
29:47A sin takes a second
29:49But a lifetime of service
29:51Once sacred
29:53Now forsaken
29:55They're co-conspirators
30:05And Sister Mary Margaret was the mastermind
30:07She was the rich uncle
30:09Cha-ching!
30:15Looking back on it
30:16A parent's not necessarily gonna believe a kid at those ages
30:19But Sister Mary Margaret, we used to call her Sister Mary Money
30:22It seemed like she always cared about the money
30:24Was very pushy about fundraisers
30:27Different parents have different stories
30:29Their kids were asked by Sister
30:31To go get something out of the backseat of her car
30:33And go home and tell Mom, hey, you know
30:35Sister's got rolls of cash under her seat
30:37It was never questioned
30:39It was Sister Mary Margaret
30:41She could be like this super dictator person
30:46Punishment-wise
30:47She had a pretty short fuse
30:49And I remember you'd have to walk the line
30:52Recess lunch
30:53Instead of like doing physical activity
30:54Which you're probably like legally supposed to do
30:56You'd have to like walk the line in front of everyone
30:58Like a big square around the four square thing
31:00It was basically public humiliation
31:02All the time
31:08When I was, I think it was fourth grade
31:10Sister Mary Margaret picked me up and threw me against the wall
31:16Sister Mary Margaret was running the show
31:18She had her finger on the pulse of pretty much everything going on at the school
31:25They did not do this alone
31:27Because it was too big
31:29Many pastors went through
31:31Many teachers
31:33A lot of office staff
31:37Sister Mary Margaret reports to a lot of different people
31:39And nobody caught this for 20, 30 years
31:41Nobody
31:45The church wanted this to be quiet, handled internally
31:49From the start
31:51I believe she ran a syndicate
31:54And it's very hard to imagine
31:56A nun can run a syndicate for 20 or 30 years without help
32:01But when the lights came on, the cockroaches ran to the corners
32:15We always hate to judge people by their worst day, right?
32:19This is not that
32:20She had a series of bad days
32:21Like perpetrating this fraud for a long time
32:24Is a culmination of a lot of bad days and a lot of poor judgment
32:28And in this case, we want to know
32:30How did she cover it up?
32:32For retirement, every time I would go visit Sister Mary Margaret
32:38She would be at her desk
32:40And I would sit on the other side and we would chat
32:42When this was going on and I didn't know what was going on
32:45Sister Mary Margaret started acting really cagey
32:48She got up and took me around and brought a chair over and turned us like this
32:56So I wasn't facing her desk
32:58My gut was there was something going on her desk that she did not want me to see
33:05She knew the audit was coming up
33:07She got together with a couple of folks in the office and started altering documents
33:13She was shredding records that would definitively show
33:16That she's been embezzling money for years
33:20And when you have somebody that's destroying evidence
33:23That shows us what their mentality was
33:25It shows your willfulness, you know, we call that willfulness
33:28You knew what you were doing was wrong
33:29So much so that you took extra steps to cover it up
33:32But bank records don't lie
33:34And for parents, it's our hard-earned money
33:43When the investigation started, the church came out saying
33:46We believe they took somewhere in the $70,000 to $80,000 range
33:53Debbie spent three days at the local bank going over every check that we wrote in the last seven years
34:00Because that's as far back as the bank had records
34:02And all of our checks that we intended for the school
34:06Were routed to Sister Mary Margaret
34:07She funneled about $90,000 of ours at least
34:12Over the 16 years
34:14Over 16 years
34:16There was $800,000 minimum that we proved was missing
34:21But it's very difficult for us to track cash
34:24The fundraisers would raise tens of thousands of dollars
34:29You know, we were bringing in anywhere between $6,000 on a bad year to about $12,000 for a golf tournament
34:37Big Jim Saloon was $4,000 or $5,000 for one night
34:41The gift wrap fundraiser would bring in about $25,000 or $35,000 a year
34:47But the Harvest Festival was the big money maker
34:51It was bringing in about $150,000 for a weekend
34:54I mean, that's profit
34:57A lot of us parents got together
34:59And each year, each year, there was about $350,000 to $400,000 in cash going through that school
35:06That nobody's ever seen
35:08So by our own account, if you go back to when the bank account started
35:13That number is about $2.4 million
35:18Our evidence was very, very clear
35:23We knew what was going on
35:25We pushed that story out to the public
35:27And once the gig was up, she admitted to it
35:31Well, a Torrance nun accused of gambling with school funds
35:34And just pleaded guilty in court
35:37According to the plea agreement, Crouper embezzled money from St. James for a period of 10 years
35:42Crouper also is accused of directing St. James employees to alter and destroy financial records during a school audit
35:50She did it, and she did it to us
35:54But she still needed to be held accountable for the actions that she took
35:58She pled guilty, and when you have a plea on the table, we want those members of the school and the parents to have some closure
36:08But sentencing is always left up to the federal judge
36:11And usually when we see people in a position of trust, they fight it till the end
36:16They feel this sense of being entitled to the actions that they took
36:20She said she had a gambling addiction
36:23And spent it gambling and was in debt
36:25Our attorneys say the 79-year-old has been suffering from mental illness to support a gambling habit
36:32She stole the money from a torn school to feed a gambling habit
36:36We read a statement to the court
36:39Please, Your Honor, validate us by enforcing the maximum sentence as prescribed by the law
36:45Taking money from other people is wrong
36:48I know the judges were Catholic
36:50Sister Mary Margaret's attorney was a big Catholic
36:55And what about Sister Lana?
36:57She had to know everything
36:59Everything Sister Mary Margaret did, they were lockstep
37:02What do we think is going to happen?
37:05Dun dun dun!
37:06In the federal system you have guidelines, and guidelines are set, like in this case, by the amount of money that's stolen
37:21Initially, the sentencing guidelines was like three years and some change
37:27Three years and some change
37:30Well, the judge was raised Catholic
37:33He went to a Catholic school
37:35He attributed where he was as a federal judge to a nun
37:40And so the judge ultimately decided to depart from the recommended sentence
37:44So Mary Margaret was sentenced to a year and a day in jail
37:50One year and a day
37:51Spend the day
37:56She didn't serve the full year
37:59She did a halfway house, from what I understand, after a few months in jail
38:03Is she in jail still or no? No? What did she do?
38:06She got four months in jail
38:09She only got four months?
38:11That's comical
38:12The sister said she was going to be sequestered, I think was her term
38:19More or less, you're locked down in your room, you're grounded at a convent
38:23She's never been grounded
38:25I've heard stories of her in and around town
38:28Going to parties
38:31Sister Alana Chang was never charged
38:34She's out of retirement now, out of school
38:37Never charged
38:40Their life just kept on going
38:47Because that's just the way they wanted it to play out
38:54Are you still a Catholic?
38:56No
38:59We wanted to raise good Catholics
39:02And my son will go to Mass
39:05My daughters are not
39:07They don't like to discuss that time
39:11They're very embarrassed, they're very angry, they're still hurt
39:14When the boys heard what was going on
39:19They questioned
39:21a lot of things
39:23They lost all respect
39:26for the institution of the Catholic Church
39:29The nuns are, you know, trying to teach us to be these good people
39:34And, you know, live a life of God and do things the right way
39:37You would expect them to lead by example
39:40And they definitely didn't
39:45We lost a lot of friends over this
39:47This was a very divisive event
39:49In the St. James community
39:50And we don't feel welcome there anymore
39:55As a matter of fact, I went back there
39:57Right at the beginning of it
39:59And Monsignor Mike
40:01Absolutely
40:03Scolded me
40:05And I left there in tears
40:07I know there's a lot less people at St. James
40:10After this
40:11I know the St. James community
40:12That we had with all those parents
40:14Is extremely fractured and will never be repaired
40:16Because, if you can believe this
40:18Some people still think she's innocent
40:22At the end of the day
40:24I think the sentencing doesn't pay enough tribute to
40:27I think the damage that was done
40:29We were not in a position to return funds
40:31Like in a normal, you know, investment scheme
40:33Or something like that
40:34Like when you spend money at casinos
40:35And on trips, it's gone
40:37According to the investigators
40:39The money was
40:40Lost gambling
40:41Lost gambling
40:43My personal opinion has always been that
40:45Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana
40:47Were taking it and stocking it away for their retirement
40:49And I feel like that money
40:51Is out there somewhere
40:55That money came from the parents
40:58To pay for their children's education
41:00And we were always told
41:01If we had more money
41:02Our children would get an even better education
41:05Clearly that was a lie
41:07But you believe because we have blind faith
41:11And when they say you lead a faithful life in the Catholic Church
41:13Maybe that's what they mean
41:14Blind faith
41:16You can trust us
41:17And where is she now?
41:25I am not sure where Sister Mary Margaret is
41:28She actually still works with students in Los Angeles
41:33No she doesn't
41:34No she doesn't
41:42Our story ends where it began
41:45Our once blessed school
41:47Used to be a sunny place where we learned God's rules
41:52Turns out there was a bigger lesson to be made
41:55Not every sin gets punishment
41:56Not every sin gets punishment
41:58So stop
42:00And listen to what we say
42:08Let's dismiss tradition of blind submission
42:12To be continued
42:14To be continued
42:15To be continued
42:16To be continued
42:17To be continued
42:18To be continued
42:47To be continued
42:48To be continued
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