Ivy Academia Charter School


IVY ACADEMY SLAPPED WITH 38 FRAUD COUNTS, June 6, 2010, Los Angeles Daily News
A husband-and-wife team that run a high-performing West Valley charter school were charged Thursday with 38 criminal counts alleging misuse of public funds, embezzling, money laundering and other crimes.

The Los Angeles District Attorney's Public Integrity Division alleges that Eugene Selivanov, 38, and his wife, Tatyana Berkovich, 32, who operate Ivy Academia Charter School, misused the school's public funds, at times shifting them to a private school the couple operates and at other times putting them to "personal use."

Ivy Academia Charter School is publicly funded and serves 1,100 students on four campuses in Woodland Hills, Winnetka, West Hills and Chatsworth from kindergarten to 12th grade.

The couple was charged with felony and misdemeanor crimes in connection with alleged thefts of more than $200,000, officials from the District Attorney's Office said. The Los Angeles Superior Court complaint details instances when Selivanov transferred public funds to for-profit companies and also used public funds to pay unrelated bills, such as credit cards.

The charges also included conflict of interest, filing false tax returns and misappropriation of public funds...

The complaint says the charges were prompted by a 2007 audit by the LAUSD's Office of Inspector General.

That report criticized some of the school's financial practices, raising concern about comingling funds between the nonprofit charter and for-profit groups affiliated with the organization.

The investigation followed accusations from former teachers and parents at Ivy who said the school was padding its attendance figures to boost state funding.

The school's state standardized test scores have placed it in the top tier of schools in LAUSD and the state since the school opened in 2004.

The school's charter was also re-authorized by the district in 2008, for a five-year term...

3 comments:

The Perimeter Primate said...

I "heart" my readers:

Please do not post my name or contact information, but you may be interested in the latest news in an ongoing scandal with an LAUSD Charter School that has had a history of problems, despite high test scores and much support from its families:

Los Angeles Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-charter-20100612,0,2904092.story"

The Perimeter Primate said...

EducationNews.org

"8.14.10 - A $995 CD set on "how to avoid paying taxes" was among the items an Ivy Academia charter school official purchased with more than $200,000 in misused public funds, authorities alleged in court documents unsealed this week..."

http://www.educationnews.org/ednews_today/98251.html

Anonymous said...

I as a former student lf the school am very glad they both got what they desrved , while we as a school couldnt afford a class set of agendas (30students) they both enjoyed of theyr luxuries , i rember they wpuld have a full lunvh of caviar delieverd for them whem ever they would visit and they are both snobs