KTLA
For decades, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang worked at St. James Catholic School and O’Gorman Center. They were beloved by the community and the students as prominent pillars of education and religion. Many years later everyone found out what these nuns’ have been doing in secret when they had worked at the school.
Who Are These Sisters?
Sister Mary Margaret had been the previous principal for 28 years before she retired in June. Sister Lana had been working as an eighth-grade teacher for 20 years. She also retired in the same year.
The two nuns had admitted to embezzling a whopping $500,000 from the Catholic school.
“It is with much sadness that I am informing families of St. James School that an internal investigation has revealed that, over a period of years, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang have been involved in the personal use of a substantial amount of School funds,” Monsignor Michael Meyers wrote in a letter.
What Happened?
St. James Website
Church officials were alerted to the potential embezzlement when they were conducting an audit. Due to Sister Mary Margaret retiring there was a change of leadership in the school. It is routine for an audit to take place during the transition.
It is believed that the two nuns, allegedly, used the money to pay for traveling and gambling expenses. It was well-known that these two Sisters, but they claimed the money comes from a “rich uncle.”
“Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana have expressed to me and asked that I convey to you, the deep remorse they each feel for their actions and ask for your forgiveness and prayers,” Meyers wrote in the letter. “They and their Order pray that you have not lost trust or faith in the educators and administrators of the school.”
The church and archdiocese chose to not press charges against the sisters. However, ABC News has reported that due to the ongoing investigation a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said they will pursue a criminal case.
Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana are still with the order the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. The order will pay full restitution to the school.