Trusting nuns in Des Plaines scammed for $100,000

A Kenyan couple who were married in Wheaton conned a group of Des Plaines nuns for about $100,000, according to a federal criminal complaint and the mother superior of the monastery.

Edward Bosire, 39, and Angela Martin-Mulu, 35, came hat in hand to the Discalced Carmelite Monastery, 1101 N. River Road, telling a story of a father murdered for political reasons in Kenya and their fear of the same if they were ever to be deported.

In reality, a criminal complaint says, Bosire's father likely died of high blood pressure and the two lived high off money scammed from religious organizations. The money was then used, in part, to gamble at Illinois casinos. At least one of the two, Martin-Mulu, boasted a Gold Coast address, while Bosire had an apartment in Bolingbrook.

One anecdote quoted in the federal complaint put the loss at over $2 million, although Mother Marie Andre of the Des Plaines monastery, says her monastery never gave nearly that much to the two.

"It was more like in the hundred thousand" range over several years, said Mother Andre.

Federal authorities said the two pulled a similar scam on a Carmelite monastery in Pewaukee, Wisc., and at a church in Hudson, Wisc.

"They put up a very sad story that went on and on and on," Mother Andre said. "They came in the first place saying someone told them if they were ever (in trouble) they should come here."

She believed them, in part, because the couple used the name of the monastery's deceased mother superior. Still, Mother Andre consulted a person outside the monastery whom she trusted and was told the couple's story appeared legitimate.

"They got their toe in with that," she said.

Between the two monasteries, over four years, the two took in at least $470,000 and deposited it to an Illinois bank account, an FBI affidavit said. Another $110,000 was deposited to the account from other sources, it said.

The two told Mother Andre tales of various expenses, including rent they needed, tuition that had to be paid and medical expenses that had to be covered.

"I should have realized much earlier," said Mother Andre. "After a while, I said, 'You can help yourself some.'"

When she grew skeptical, the two pretended to be going to school in Iowa to get a job with Allstate, she said. Eventually, she cut the two off about a year ago.

Feds say the two seemed to follow a similar pattern with the Wisconsin victims, telling them they were attending Roosevelt University in Chicago, or needed money to pay medical bills at Northwestern University Memorial Hospital. Records reflect the two never attended Roosevelt, and most of their medical expenses were still past due, the criminal complaint said.

"I don't know where the truth is," said Mother Andre.

In terms of picking a victim, the Carmelites may have been an ideal target. As a cloistered organization, the group has little contact with the outside world and mainly prays in seclusion for the welfare of the world.

The group does charity work as well, said Mother Andre, but mostly through donations to a sister monastery in Poland. However, the monastery does have a charity fund to make local donations as well, which is what was used to fund the couple.

Bosire was picked up a few days ago on a traffic stop and Martin-Mulu was arrested at her Gold Coast apartment at 6 a.m. Wednesday, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Madden.

The case will be prosecuted in Wisconsin, but the two face a detention hearing in Chicago Friday at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sidney Schenkier.

In the meantime, Mother Andre is putting her trust in God.

"We did it in good faith, and we hope that somehow God's going to straighten it out," she said.