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