Wednesday, May 15, 2013
6 Charged With Embezzling Millions From San Francisco Schools
Six current and former San Francisco school district employees were charged Tuesday with embezzling about $15 million in grant money from the district, officials said.
The suspects face multiple felony grand theft and embezzlement counts for diverting federal and state grant money into hidden slush fund accounts through several nonprofits over a 10-year period, district attorney George Gascon and San Francisco Unified Schools Superintendent Richard Carranza announced at a news conference.
A three-year investigation found the six suspects, including a former associate superintendent and two former senior executives, used about $250,000 for personal expenses and another $500,000 for unauthorized salaries and bonuses, officials said.
About $6.7 million of the grant money went toward educational purposes, but not for what was specifically intended, Gascon said. One of the nonprofits involved even risked $250,000 in the stock market and lost, he said.
The scheme occurred during a period when the district faced a $113 million deficit, had to give layoff notices to teachers, and summer programs were being reduced or slashed altogether, Gascon added.
"We had people that were in positions of trust that were taking money, who were diverting this money for personal use," Gascon said. "This is one of the worst kinds of corruption."
About $4.7 million of the grant money has been recovered. The nonprofits charged about $1.2 million in administrative fees during that period, Gascon said.
"We are mortified at the thought that trusted employees would conceive of such a scheme to divert funds from the children for whom they are intended," said Carranza, who participated in the district's probe in 2010 while he was a deputy superintendent.
Those facing charges include former associate superintendent Trish Bascom; former senior executive directors Linda Sue Lovelace and Meyla Ruwin; former principal administrative analyst Lilian Capuli; former assistant principal Mychel Navales and Betty Wong, a typist.
The suspects were expected to turn themselves in by Wednesday and could be arraigned as early as Thursday, prosecutors said. The investigation is ongoing.
Gascon said Bascom was the ringleader of the scheme as she had primary control over money distributed to the nonprofits hired to provide services for the district. At times, the nonprofit would write checks to individuals who allegedly would put them into their personal banking accounts.
"They would request funding for certain things and the checks would be made out to them personally," Gascon said. "They had complete control."
Bascom's lawyer, Stuart Hanlon, said his client was head of the district's Student Support Services and was instrumental in aiding gay and lesbian youth and afterschool programs for impoverished youth.
"What they are alleging is that she created a slush fund. She didn't. I don't know what they are alleging," Hanlon said. "The Trish Bascom I know is an honest, hard-working woman who has devoted her life to the children of San Francisco.
"I don't know if any of these women are guilty," Hanlon continued. "You are presumed innocent until proven guilty. You don't convict people through the press. We'll see what the evidence shows."
Efforts to reach suspects and other attorneys were not immediately successful.
One of the nonprofits, the San Francisco School Alliance, took in between $5.5 and $6.3 million and charged a half-million dollars in administrative fees, Gascon said. The nonprofit even ventured $250,000 in the stock market and lost, he added.
A call to Terry Bergeson, executive director of the alliance, was not immediately returned.
While the other two nonprofits involved have returned more than $4 million, San Francisco School Alliance has not returned any money yet, Gascon said.
"If someone came and gave you $4-5 million in your account, and they will tell you when to use it and for you to take an administrative fee without a clear definition of what that money is being used for, that should raise some concerns," Gascon said. "We're definitely concerned about that."
Lansing woman headed toward trial for alleged embezzlement from Waverly youth football program
From Mlive.com
A Lansing woman took a step toward trial on charges from her alleged embezzlement of thousands of dollars from a youth football program.
Celeste Foster, 39, waived preliminary examination in Eaton County District Court last week, according to a court clerk. Her waiver automatically bound her case over to circuit court for trial.
Foster is charged with embezzlement over $1,000 from a nonprofit and multiple counts of writing bad checks. She was the treasurer of the Waverly Junior Warriors Football program from October 2011 to October 2012 when, authorities say, she stole more than $17,000 from the organization.
The program is a youth football organization offerred to fourth- through eighth-grade students in the Waverly Community Schools district.
Foster bonded out of the Eaton County Jail, according to officials. She faces up to five years in prison and a fine up to three times the amount she allegedly embezzled.
No further court date has been set
A Lansing woman took a step toward trial on charges from her alleged embezzlement of thousands of dollars from a youth football program.
Celeste Foster, 39, waived preliminary examination in Eaton County District Court last week, according to a court clerk. Her waiver automatically bound her case over to circuit court for trial.
Foster is charged with embezzlement over $1,000 from a nonprofit and multiple counts of writing bad checks. She was the treasurer of the Waverly Junior Warriors Football program from October 2011 to October 2012 when, authorities say, she stole more than $17,000 from the organization.
The program is a youth football organization offerred to fourth- through eighth-grade students in the Waverly Community Schools district.
Foster bonded out of the Eaton County Jail, according to officials. She faces up to five years in prison and a fine up to three times the amount she allegedly embezzled.
No further court date has been set
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Teachers union treasurer arrested in alleged embezzlement in California
The treasurer of the Redding branch for the California Teachers Association was arrested today on suspicion of embezzlement, authorities said.
Redding police identified the treasurer as Ronda Jean Mackey-Fish, 54, an Anderson resident and teacher at Pacheco School.
Police said they were contacted by the Redding Service Center Council regarding a possible embezzlement. During the investigation over the past year, detectives determined more than $18,000 had been embezzled.
Shasta County Superior Court on Thursday issued a felony arrest warrant for embezzlement for Mackey-Fish, said police, making the arrest the following day at her home.
She was booked at the Shasta County jail and is being held on $25,000 bail.
Former Carterville, Illinois school official indicted on embezzlement charges
A former Carterville school official was indicted Friday on embezzlement and other charges.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Springfield division, Todd Ryan Frazier, 30, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was indicted by a grand jury on Friday and charged in a 16-count indictment.
US Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced that Frazier was indicted on the following 16-counts:
-Counts 1—3, embezzlement and theft from the Carterville School District—a unit of local government that received federal funds
-Counts 4—13, wire fraud in furtherance of a scheme to defraud the Carterville School District
-Count 14, false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation
-Count 15, attempting to access a computer of a financial institution without authorization
-Count 16, uttering a forged check of the Carterville School District
The FBI says Frazier defrauded the Carterville School District between August and February 2012.
Frazier was the treasurer and payroll officer for the district.
Frazier reportedly also lied to the FBI and said that had not taken money from the district, or made false entries in the payroll system.
The offenses each carry a total statutory maximum sentence of up to 250 years in prison, a fine of up to $3,400,000 and mandatory restitution
Friday, May 10, 2013
Former PTA Official Jailed After Failure to Repay Funds in New York
FROM http://www.nytimes.com
Still owing more than $17,000 to the Parent-Teacher Association she stole from for two years, Providence Hogan, a former PTA treasurer at Public School 29 in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, was taken back into custody on Wednesday after she failed to make scheduled payments.
Ms. Hogan pleaded guilty in 2011 to embezzling $82,000 while she was the treasurer of the PTA, which serves one of Brooklyn’s most sought-after elementary schools. She used the money to help shore up her failing Boerum Hill spa business in Brooklyn, cover her rent and pay for fertility treatments. As part of a plea agreement, she returned $50,000 in 2011 and has since paid back more in installments, but is still short about $17,700, according to the Brooklyn district attorney’s office.
“The judge felt that she would come up with the money if she was in jail,” Ms. Hogan’s lawyer, Stephen Flamhaft, said.
He said Ms. Hogan would be released next week. Ms. Hogan could still face the full sentence of two to six years if she does not make the full reimbursement by January 2014. Even if she does, she will be on probation for five years.
It is the latest episode in a story that has left scars on both Ms. Hogan and the P.S. 29 community.
Ms. Hogan filed for bankruptcy in January, the same month she closed her business, Providence Day Spa, blaming the bad economy. The PTA has asked the bankruptcy court not to eliminate her remaining debt to the group. Maura Sheehy, one of the presidents of the PTA, said the remaining $17,000 could be used for a variety of purposes, like professional development for teachers, arts enrichment or simply softening the impact of more than $1 million in budget cuts the school has faced over the past five years.
The $17,000 is roughly equivalent to the salary of an assistant kindergarten teacher, she said. The PTA collected about $200,000 in donations last year, according to tax records.
Mr. Flamhaft, referring to the other P.S. 29 parents as “parasites,” said he believed they had “no compassion.”
“They’re taking advantage of a downtrodden woman,” he added, “who’s battered and sullied by many things that went on in her life.”
Since pleading guilty, Ms. Hogan, whose daughter was in fourth grade at P.S. 29 at the time of her arrest, has been divorced and has suffered from what Mr. Flamhaft called “severe illnesses, womanly illnesses” that left her “on her deathbed.”
Told of Mr. Flamhaft’s comments, Ms. Sheehy said, “I think people hold a wide range of feelings about the situation, including an enormous amount of sympathy for Ms. Hogan’s tragic situation.”
In a blog post on her spa’s Web site, Ms. Hogan wrote: “Some transitions were not so wonderful. Illness, loss and complicated times.”
Still owing more than $17,000 to the Parent-Teacher Association she stole from for two years, Providence Hogan, a former PTA treasurer at Public School 29 in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, was taken back into custody on Wednesday after she failed to make scheduled payments.
Ms. Hogan pleaded guilty in 2011 to embezzling $82,000 while she was the treasurer of the PTA, which serves one of Brooklyn’s most sought-after elementary schools. She used the money to help shore up her failing Boerum Hill spa business in Brooklyn, cover her rent and pay for fertility treatments. As part of a plea agreement, she returned $50,000 in 2011 and has since paid back more in installments, but is still short about $17,700, according to the Brooklyn district attorney’s office.
“The judge felt that she would come up with the money if she was in jail,” Ms. Hogan’s lawyer, Stephen Flamhaft, said.
He said Ms. Hogan would be released next week. Ms. Hogan could still face the full sentence of two to six years if she does not make the full reimbursement by January 2014. Even if she does, she will be on probation for five years.
It is the latest episode in a story that has left scars on both Ms. Hogan and the P.S. 29 community.
Ms. Hogan filed for bankruptcy in January, the same month she closed her business, Providence Day Spa, blaming the bad economy. The PTA has asked the bankruptcy court not to eliminate her remaining debt to the group. Maura Sheehy, one of the presidents of the PTA, said the remaining $17,000 could be used for a variety of purposes, like professional development for teachers, arts enrichment or simply softening the impact of more than $1 million in budget cuts the school has faced over the past five years.
The $17,000 is roughly equivalent to the salary of an assistant kindergarten teacher, she said. The PTA collected about $200,000 in donations last year, according to tax records.
Mr. Flamhaft, referring to the other P.S. 29 parents as “parasites,” said he believed they had “no compassion.”
“They’re taking advantage of a downtrodden woman,” he added, “who’s battered and sullied by many things that went on in her life.”
Since pleading guilty, Ms. Hogan, whose daughter was in fourth grade at P.S. 29 at the time of her arrest, has been divorced and has suffered from what Mr. Flamhaft called “severe illnesses, womanly illnesses” that left her “on her deathbed.”
Told of Mr. Flamhaft’s comments, Ms. Sheehy said, “I think people hold a wide range of feelings about the situation, including an enormous amount of sympathy for Ms. Hogan’s tragic situation.”
In a blog post on her spa’s Web site, Ms. Hogan wrote: “Some transitions were not so wonderful. Illness, loss and complicated times.”
ENMU staffer charge with embezzling in New Mexico
FROM http://www.krqe.com
An employee at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales is accused of embezzling from the college.
Authorities allege Jeremy Phillippi, 26, embezzled at least $15,000 by using a university purchasing card for personal hotel stays and gifts.
Phillippi worked in the math department and as a science fair coordinator.
Phillippi is also charged with forgery because he allegedly forged his supervisor's signature on receipts so they wouldn't be flagged in the school's financial department.
It didn't work.
Authorities say they're still doing an audit to determine if more money was stolen. If so more charges will be filed
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)