Lusher Charter School

“NOPD says feds now looking into 2011 embezzlement from Lusher Charter School.” The Lens (LA), 4/17/2013

The New Orleans Police Department is working with federal investigators in an embezzlement case from 2011 at Lusher Charter School that so far has led to no charges against the admitted embezzler...

Lauren Hightower, a former accountant at the Uptown school, was discovered by administrators to have forged signatures on checks adding up to $25,800. The investigation into her activities is focused on the forgeries...

Brighter Choice Foundation

“NY charter school official admits embezzling $203K.” Associated Press, 3/27/2013

ALBANY (AP) --The former chief financial officer of a foundation that funds charter schools in Albany has admitted embezzling almost $203,000 from the organization.

Kid Street Learning Center Charter School

"Guilty plea in Santa Rosa School embezzlement." KTVU (CA), 1/10/2012

SANTA ROSA, Calif. — A former Santa Rosa charter school official has pleaded guilty to embezzling nearly $400,000 to fund a prescription drug habit.

Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts

“Richmond board wants fast action on Patrick Henry.” Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA), 6/15/2011

Faced with a Virginia State Police investigation into possible embezzlement at Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts, the Richmond School Board wants an immediate audit of the school's finances for its first year of operation...

State police have not released details of their investigation, but a former Patrick Henry treasurer approached the law-enforcement agency through an intermediary in March with concerns about a student activity fund controlled by the school's principal under the school district's tax identification number.

Last week, an audit of the fund by the school system found no evidence of fraud but serious mismanagement of the money by the school's administration...

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“Richmond charter school focus of state police investigation.” Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA), 6/8/2011

RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia State Police are investigating an allegation of embezzlement at Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts, a charter school in South Richmond that is completing its first year of operation.

State police spokeswoman Corinne Geller confirmed Wednesday that the Bureau of Criminal Investigation's Richmond field office is conducting the investigation.

M. Susan Martin, former treasurer of the charter school, said she approached state police through an intermediary in March about her concerns over the management of student activity funds controlled by the school's principal and Richmond Public Schools. About the same time, Martin raised concerns about the funds in a letter on March 14 to Richmond Superintendent Yvonne W. Brandon and urged her to audit the two bank accounts opened by Principal Pamela L. Boyd.

The accounts were opened under the public school system's tax identification number and are not controlled by the charter school's board of directors, Martin said.

Martin, a certified public accountant who completed her term as treasurer at the end of August, first raised concerns about the funds in late January while assisting the charter school's audit and budget committee...

Morningstar Academy Charter School

In 2003, the for-profit Educational Administrative Services opened Morningstar Academy. EAS also operated the now-defunct California Charter Academy. Read about the CCA scandal @ http://charterschoolscandals.blogspot.com/2010/05/california-charter-academy-60-schools.html

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PROBATION FOR TEACHER/MINISTER IN AJ SEX EXPLOITATION CASE. Gold Canyon Today (AZ) 07 July 2009 http://www.goldcanyontoday.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=471&Itemid=189

Former Apache Junction charter school teacher and youth minister, Bobby Kennedy, 31, received lifetime supervised probation despite his pleading guilty to attempted sexual exploitation of a minor and furnishing obscene materials to a minor.

Kennedy was accused of molesting a 15-year-old female student at Morningstar Academy Charter School, kissing her and coercing students to take naked pictures of themselves with his cell phone in 2005. He was originally arrested by Apache Junction Police (AJPD) in May 2005 charged with 2 counts of sexual exploitation of minor and 2 counts of child molestation that reportedly involved at least three female students in incidents that occurred on school property at 1105 W. Superstition Blvd.

Kennedy was held in the Pinal County Jail on $750,000 bail until June 27, 2005 at which time his bail was reduced to $150,000. Kennedy subsequently posted the reduced bail and was out on bond while authorities continued to investigate the case, which led to an additional indictment on August 11, 2005 on 22 charges including molestation, sexual abuse, aggravated assault and furnishing obscene materials to a minor.

Kennedy failed to appear for a hearing on the charges on August 23, 2005 and dropped out of sight, prompting the AJPD to put Kennedy on their “Most Wanted List” where he remained for nearly three years.

Police believed that Kennedy’s mother and principal of Morningstar Academy, Carolyn Kennedy, had prior knowledge of her son’s actions with students and also that she helped her son to flee prosecution. In 2006 Kennedy’s mother pleaded guilty for failing to report the abuse of a minor and received two years probation and a suspended 90 day jail sentence along with paying a fine of $2,500. Despite her conviction and alleged failure to help authorities locate her fugitive son, she was allowed to retain her position as principal.

After nearly three years on the lam, Kennedy was arrested by Deputy U.S. Marshals on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 in Lawton, Oklahoma where he was living with his wife and small son. On Monday, June 26, 2009 Kennedy was sentenced to lifetime supervised probation with a 180-day deferred jail sentence with 52 days already served.

When told of Kennedy’s sentence of probation, former AJPD Commander Jay Swart who was instrumental in Kennedy’s capture by the U.S. Marshall’s was incredulous saying, “What? I can’t believe that! How can anybody justify probation for someone who confessed of such grievous actions against children?”

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Additional stories about this case

• PROSECUTOR TO FIGHT MOLESTATION SUSPECT'S BAIL-TEACHER WHO FLED IS CAUGHT, FREED ON BAIL AGAIN. The Arizona Republic 16 May 2008 http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/05/16/20080516molest0516.html
• PRINCIPAL'S SON ARRESTED THREE YEARS AFTER MOM SHELTERED HIM ON MOLEST CHARGE. AZcentral.com 19 Mar 2008 http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/WATCHBLOG/19644

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OPERATOR OF VALLEY SCHOOL FACES CHARGES IN CALIF. The Arizona Republic 11 Sep 2007 http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0911charter0911.html

The Arizona State Board for Charter Schools refused Monday to allow a charter-school company to change its name after its owner was indicted on felony-theft charges in California.

C. Steven Cox owns Educational Administrative Services, which operates Morningstar Academy, an elementary school, in Apache Junction.

Cox was indicted Sept. 4 in San Bernardino on 56 felony counts of misappropriation of funds and 56 felony counts of grand theft while operating the now-defunct California Charter Academy, run by the for-profit Educational Administrative Services. Cox was indicted along with a Hesperia City Council member, and both pleaded not guilty.

California shut down the school in 2004 after auditors found that the owners had drained the school's coffers of millions of dollars to provide high executive salaries and perks and give questionable contracts to friends and family members.

Arizona agreed to sign a contract with Cox in 2003 to open the Apache Junction elementary charter school.

The Arizona State Board for Charter Schools on Monday tabled a request to allow Educational Administrative Services to change its name, citing the board's recent suspension of Cox's fingerprint card pending the outcome of the indictments…

The company has had money problems in Arizona. Its 2006 audit shows it was operating with "an accumulated loss of $174,050" and owed $34,882 in state and federal taxes. Its 2005 audit reported that an employee embezzled $27,640 and that financial records were missing after an attempted "hostile takeover" of the school by two employees…

Texas Serenity Academy Charter School

ALDINE CHARTER SCHOOL SUES SUGAR LAND MAN; December 2, 2010; Ultimate Fort Bend (TX) 

A charter school is suing after a former employee wrote himself a $240,000 check from the school’s account.

Texas Serenity Academy Charter School filed a lawsuit on Dec. 1 in the Harris County District Court against Don Johnson, Freddie Oliver and Damon Meeks alleging fraud, embezzlement, misapplication of fiduciary property, theft, interference of contract, trespass, robbery and other crimes.

The school states that on Nov. 29, 2010, Johnson, of 3806 Cypress Key Drive in Spring, went to Wells Fargo Bank, located in Kingwood, and closed four accounts, two credit card accounts and all debit cards belonging to the school.

According to the brief, Johnson then had the bank write him a cashier’s check in the amount of $240,000. Afterward, the school says Johnson had Meeks, an attorney located at 245 Commerce Green Blvd. in Sugar Land, along with Oliver, a private investigator, and two Houston police officers eject current employees off school property.

The plaintiff is seeking a restraining order against the defendants, forcing them to stay away from the school and its current employees.

City View Charter School

EX-SCHOOL BOOKKEEPER ACCUSED OF EMBEZZLEMENT; January 23, 2008; The Oregonian 

HILLSBORO -- The former bookkeeper of City View Charter School, who has a criminal record for stealing from charity, is under investigation on accusations of embezzling at least $64,000 from the city's only charter school.

According to a report that school leaders filed Tuesday with the Hillsboro Police Department, Michelle Lorraine Wheeler, 36, is suspected of taking the money from the K-8 school that operates from two sites, including its main building on Tualatin Valley Highway.

Hillsboro police detectives and City View auditors are investigating what happened to another $20,000 that is missing, said Lt. Michael Rouches, Hillsboro police spokesman…

The police report indicates that City View hired Wheeler in June 2006, but administrators aren't sure when money started disappearing. Wheeler was a contract employee, Mokler said. Wheeler resigned Dec. 11.

In August 2007, Wheeler pleaded guilty to stealing $5,900 from In Defense of Animals -- Africa, a "Save the Chimpanzees" charity she handled books for between October 2006 and July 2007.

The Hillsboro woman also is scheduled to be arraigned next month on theft and other accusations involving Safe Harbor Foundation, a clothes closet she's run for more than two years for low-income families in Washington County…

Horizons K-8 Charter School

HORIZONS CHARTER FOUNDER FACING THEFT, EMBEZZLEMENT CHARGES; November 13, 2007; DailyCamera.com (Boulder, CO) 

A founder of Boulder's Horizons K-8 Charter School has been arrested on suspicion of theft, forgery and embezzlement based on alleged misrepresentations made to the state's retirement program.

Ann Leslie Kane turned herself in and was arrested Friday. She has bonded out of jail.

Boulder Valley spokesman Briggs Gamblin said Horizon's parent board brought financial concerns to the school district a couple of years ago. The district commissioned an independent audit, which uncovered red flags, he said, and the information was turned over to the Boulder County District Attorney's Office in late 2005…

The possible charges, all felonies,are one count of theft, one count of attempting to influence a public servant, two counts of forgery and one count of embezzlement of public property. All charges relate to allegations that Kane misrepresented her salary, which would allow her to collect more retirement money through the Public Employees Retirement Association, according to a school statement…

New Hope Institute of Science and Technology

FORMER CHARTER SCHOOL HEAD ACCUSED OF EMBEZZLEMENT INDICTMENT ALLEGES WOMAN STOLE MORE THAN $300,000 IN FEDERAL MONEY; January 24, 2008; Associated Press 

The U.S. attorney's office accused the former head of a Milwaukee charter school Wednesday of embezzling more than $300,000 in federal money.

A grand jury indicted Rosella Tucker, 54, of Milwaukee, on two counts of theft from a program receiving federal funds.

Tucker started New Hope Institute of Science and Technology in 2003, according to a U.S. attorney's office news release. It was a subsidiary of Tucker's New Hope Child Development Center, which also included her voucher school, Tucker Institute of Learning.

The indictment alleges that Tucker embezzled more than $300,000 from 2003 to 2005 from New Hope Institute of Science and Technology, which received federal money. She served as director of New Hope Institute of Science and Technology and New Hope Child Development Center, prosecutors said.

But Milwaukee Public Schools closed New Hope Institute of Science and Technology in 2006 for failing to meet its financial obligations.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel previously reported that the school was unable to pay its employees on time consistently and owed money to the school district and on its building insurance.

There was also some question about a 2002 BMW X5 valued at $43,700, plus $6,392 in finance charges. The district told the school to sell the vehicle in 2005, but it remained licensed to New Hope Child Development Inc. and someone named Haider Bokhari when the district decided to close the school.

Tucker could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Allen Village School

INFORMATION ISSUED BY U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI ON SEPT. 25: FORMER CHARTER SCHOOL PRESIDENT PLEADS GUILTY TO MORTGAGE, INVESTMENT FRAUDS; September 25, 2006; US Fed News Service 

The U.S. Department of Justice's U.S. Attorney's office for the Western District of Missouri issued the following press release:

Bradley J. Schlozman, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a former president of Allen Village School's board of directors pleaded guilty in federal court today to mortgage and investment fraud schemes.

James Elliott Coleman, 58, of Raytown, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief District Judge Dean Whipple this afternoon to all of the charges contained in an April 20, 2006, federal indictment.

By pleading guilty today, Coleman admitted that he participated in a $778,336 mortgage fraud scheme and a $40,000 investment fraud scheme that were perpetrated against an older widow and her daughter. Coleman also admitted that he used some of the proceeds of the investment fraud to repay money he embezzled from the charter school.

Mortgage Fraud

Coleman admitted that he participated in a conspiracy from December 2001 to July 29, 2004, to defraud mortgage lenders and individual victims. As a result of the mortgage fraud conspiracy, Coleman personally obtained approximately $148,214.

Coleman solicited two victims, an older widow and her daughter, to invest in real estate. Coleman prepared false and fraudulent loan applications and supporting documentation for submission to mortgage lenders in the names of straw borrowers, caused inflated appraisals to be prepared in relation to the properties, and submitted false and fraudulent loan applications and documentation to mortgage lenders...

Between 2003 and July 29, 2004, in an attempt to lull the mother and daughter into believing that their investments were safe and secure, Coleman fraudulently advised them that there had been delays in the progress of Allen Village, but that Phase I was already underway and Phase II was about to break ground.

Coleman admitted that he used part of the money from the investment fraud scheme to repay funds he embezzled from Allen Village School, a Kansas City charter school where he had served on the board of directors and as business manager, board treasurer and president. Coleman has been charged in a separate indictment with embezzling $47,368 from the school.

Coleman also pleaded guilty to 10 counts of interstate transportation of funds obtained by fraud, which were related to a series of financial transactions in which Coleman caused funds to be transferred across state lines in furtherance of the conspiracy and as a result of the conspiracy and scheme to defraud.

Under federal statutes, Coleman could be subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole on the conspiracy count and up to 10 years in federal prison without parole on each of the 10 counts of interstate transportation of funds obtained by fraud, plus a fine up to $250,000 on each of the 11 counts. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Parker Marshall. It was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.Contact: Don Ledford, 816/426-4220.

George Washington Carver Academy

EX-TREASURER OF HIGHLAND PARK CHARTER SCHOOL CHARGED WITH EMBEZZLEMENT; March 11, 2011; The Detroit News (MI) 

Highland Park— The former treasurer of a charter school has been charged with embezzlement for allegedly writing herself a $25,000 check on behalf of the school to buy a house in Detroit.

Attorney General Bill Schuette announced today the felony embezzlement charge was filed against Shantell Bell, formerly of George Washington Carver Academy, which has 527 students.

A Michigan State Police investigation revealed Bell allegedly wrote the check to an Ohio title company and recorded the expense as "textbooks" for the kindergarten through eighth-grade school. She was arraigned Friday in Highland Park's 30th District Court on one count of embezzlement over $20,000. The crime is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $75,000 fine…

According to Schuette, Bell had said Platinum Title Services was a textbook company. In reality, it was the company used to complete the real estate transaction.

Bell's former boyfriend reported the theft to authorities and the investigation began, Schuette said…

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AFTER CHEATING SCANDAL, SCHOOL LEARNS LESSONS IN TAKING TESTS; March 10, 2011; USA Today, 

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. — The teachers and principal at George Washington Carver Academy, a charter school here, have learned firsthand what happens when an official probe concludes that the staff cheated on a standardized test.

Monitors sent by the Michigan Department of Education have watched over teachers here for the past two years as state tests have been administered. As a group, teachers have been forced to review, line by line, all of the state's testing rules…

Educators at Carver cheated on the tests in many ways, stopping just short of giving students the answers, the state investigation found. Plastic-wrapped exams were opened days before the state allowed, so students could be coached. Teachers gave students hints during the exams in classrooms where interior windows were covered with paper to keep anyone from looking inside. And when students asked questions, teachers showed them how to get the right answer, the state said…

"We had the test booklet," a fifth-grader told investigators about the writing test. The teacher "was teaching us how to do it. It was nice and clear."

A fourth-grader called the test "pretty easy" because the teacher "gave us ideas for the topic sentence and the ending sentence. ... She was trying to help us do our best."…

Carolina International School

MEETING PLANNED FOR CHARTER SCHOOL - CAROLINA INTERNATIONAL PARENTS ARE TALKING WITH STATE OFFICIALS; February 21, 2011; The Charlotte Observer (NC)

A handful of parents have contacted the N.C. State Board of Education concerning the leadership of Carolina International School, which survived an embezzlement case in 2008 that nearly forced it to close.

About a dozen parents question how the current principal and assistant principal were hired for Cabarrus County's only charter school and how board of director meetings are run and documented under North Carolina's open records law. The group wants to start a dialogue with board members in hope to expand the school's board of directors and help prevent future problems…

At the Feb. 10 meeting, the board voted to increase payments to the N.C. Department of Revenue to pay off tax liabilities stemming from the embezzlement. The school will have federal and state debt paid off by June 30, he said, and the financial change could make it easier to attract board members, said Elliott.

The total debt from litigation fees, back taxes and interest from the 2008 embezzlement case reached upwards of $600,000, and the board of directors could legally have been bound to pay that debt had funds not been raised, said Elliott…

A group of about a dozen parents examined board minutes from the summer of 2010 that document the school's hiring of the principal and assistant principal. Elliott is documented as seconding his own vote to go into a closed session. Board member and science teacher Megan McNutt, who was marked absent for the July meeting, is documented as seconding Sam Leder's vote to go into a closed session. Neither of these items have been updated or amended on current meeting minutes found on the school website as of Feb. 18.

Concord attorney Sue Schneider's daughter is a sixth-grader at CIS. She wants the state to get involved to ensure the board and the principal are adhering to school bylaws, which include running meetings using "Robert's Rule of Order, Revised," an updated version of parliamentary procedure that dates back 200 years.

She about 10 other parents are asking the state to better police the charter school's meeting activity and help fully disclose the search process for finding potential principal and assistant principal candidates during the "relatively short" hiring process…

The school had faced struggles after Sandra Vielbaum, the school's former finance officer, in 2008 was charged and later convicted of embezzling $195,000, leaving the school in financial straits. The school was in danger of closing, as it faced a deficit of $400,000, but school leaders secured $380,000, with help from parents and loans, which allowed the school to remain open…

Nia Community Public Charter School

“DC Charter School Head Accused of Embezzling Funds.” AP/NBC4 Washington (DC), 1/29/2013

A co-founder and former executive director of the Nia Community Public Charter School in Washington has been charged with embezzling $29,000 from the school.

The Washington Examiner reports that Monique Murdock wrote five checks to her foster child ranging from $4,000 and $8,000, using school funds in 2008. Court records show the checks were then deposited in a savings account Murdock created for the child. Then all but $100 was transferred to other accounts belonging to Murdock.

Nia Community Public Charter School was located in Ward 7 but closed in 2011 after the D.C. Public Charter School Board revoked its charter.

The charter school board initially placed the school on probation for possible financial mismanagement. A spokeswoman says its charter was revoked as a result of poor academic performance.

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”School board votes to pursue closure of two D.C. charters.” The Examiner (Washington, DC), 3/30/2011

The D.C. charter school board voted Tuesday night to move forward in closing Nia Community and Ideal Academy, charters that have not following the academic programs they proposed, the board said…

Board members said Nia's charter is on the chopping block because it failed to design and implement the educational program it described in its application, and failed to meet student achievement goals.

Nia also has not complied with federal requirements for educating special-education students, and did not submit an annual report in compliance with the School Reform Act…

Both Nia and Ideal have 15 days to request a public hearing before the board's final vote. A charter going through the process has never remained open, spokeswoman Audrey Williams told The Washington Examiner.

Dobson Academy School

LOCAL WOMAN CHARGED WITH EMBEZZLING FROM CHARTER SCHOOL; January 15, 2010; Ahwatukee Foothill News (AZ)

Chandler police detectives have arrested an Ahwatukee Foothills woman for allegedly embezzling at least $20,000 from the charter school she worked at, and they are looking for her husband as an accomplice.

Laurie Bassett, 51, was booked into jail Tuesday on 25 counts of forgery, plus one count each of theft and fraudulent schemes after Chandler detectives served a search warrant at her home in the 4300 block of East Pipa Street in Ahwatukee Foothills, police said.

Chandler police Detective David Ramier said the suspect worked as the account manager at Dobson Academy School at 2207 N. Dobson Road for three years and that for more than a year has been making false invoices for supplies.

Ramier said she would write the fake invoice, then issue a check to herself or her husband. When the canceled check was returned, she would cover up her or her husband’s name and put the name of the fake company from the invoice, then make a photo copy for the school’s records, police said…

According to Ramier, James A Bassett, 51, the suspect's husband, also is wanted for forgery…

Detroit Academy of Arts & Sciences

LAWSUIT ALLEGES MISCONDUCT AT DETROIT CHARTER SCHOOL, Jan 8, 2009, Detroit Free Press (MI) 

Two former employees of the Detroit Academy of Arts & Sciences charter school allege in a lawsuit that the school engaged in cheating on standardized tests, staff embezzlement, the downloading of nude photos and fire code violations. Aarmond Atkins, former dean of students for the academy's middle school, and Arnold Boyd, the middle school's in-school suspension director, say they were fired in November when they refused a demand from the principal to place students at desks in a middle school hallway and a utility closet in violation of the city fire code. Both men said they notified the Detroit Fire Department, which subsequently issued a citation to the school.

NEW Academy Canoga Park

FORMER CHARTER SCHOOL PRINCIPAL PLEADS GUILTY TO EMBEZZLING FUNDS; December 15, 2010; LA Times/LA Now

The former principal of NEW Academy Canoga Park charter school has pleaded guilty to embezzlement, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said in a statement Wednesday.

Edward Peter Fiszer, 40, pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement by a public officer and admitted that the dollar-value exceeded $1.3 million, the statement said. Fiszer was immediately sentenced to five years in state prison by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Judith Champagne and  ordered to pay $1,428,485.15 in restitution to the school.

Prosecutors said Fiszer embezzled more than $1.4 million between 2008 and 2009 by obtaining nearly two dozen cashier's checks from school accounts and depositing them in an Ameritrade account to trade stocks. He was removed as principal in November 2009 after the theft was discovered.

Fiszer was arrested Oct. 4 in West Windsor, N.J., and brought back to Los Angeles by officers investigating the case, the statement said.

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LOCAL CHARTER SCHOOL ACCUSED IN AUDIT OF ALLEGED MISAPPROPRIATION OF $2.7 MILLION, August 30, 2010, Los Angeles Times

The former principal of a San Fernando Valley charter school allegedly misappropriated $1.6 million, according to an audit released Monday by the inspector general’s office of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Auditors also have questioned more than $1 million dollars in other expenditures at the NEW Academy Canoga Park charter school…

Among their findings, auditors contend that the school’s former principal, who isn't named in the audit, withdrew cashier’s checks totaling $1,073,700 from school accounts to deposit in an investment account between July 1, 2007, and Sept. 30, 2009…

Community Leadership Academy

CHARTER SCHOOL FOUNDER CHARGED WITH THEFT, EMBEZZLEMENT, May 11, 2006, TheDenverChannel.com (CO)

BRIGHTON, Colo. -- An Adams County charter school official was charged with six felony counts and one misdemeanor Thursday in connection with the theft of more than $72,000.

The Adams County District Attorney's Office announced the charges that came at the conclusion of a three-month investigation involving Katie Squair, 51.

She is the founder and former business manager of the Community Leadership Academy and was accused of using checks, wire transfers and debits to embezzle money from the school, which opened in August of 2005.

She was charged with three counts of felony theft, two counts of felony computer crime, one count embezzlement of public property and one count of misdemeanor theft.

Squair was arrested Wednesday and is free on a $10,000 bond. She had resigned from the school last February.

Her next court appearance is June 13.

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SCHOOL CO-FOUNDER GETS 2 YEARS IN THEFT CASE, January 27, 2007, Rocky Mountain News (CO)

ADAMS COUNTY - The former finance director of the Community Leadership Academy will be spending time in prison for stealing $72,300 from the charter school she helped found.

Katie Squair, 51, was sentenced Friday to two years in prison and ordered to pay full restitution, said Michael Goodbee, spokesman for the Adams County district attorney's office.

Squair pleaded guilty to theft last November and has admitted she had embezzled from the school to feed a gambling addiction.

Squair wrote herself checks from the academy's account totaling more than $21,800 and deposited more than $49,700 in wire transfers to her personal bank account.

Christina Gonzales, the academy's acting principal, discovered the improprieties last January and confronted Squair, who resigned.

KIPP San Antonio

CHARTER SCHOOL FUNDS, EMPLOYEE VANISH, January 14, 2010, San Antonio Express-News (TX)

Leaders of KIPP San Antonio, a branch of one of the most successful charter school programs in the country, are reeling after learning a former employee may have embezzled tens of thousands of dollars from the school district's accounts.

According to KIPP board member Michele Brown, a member of the district's financial operation's team who was working from home last Thursday stopped returning phone calls and e-mail after 12 p.m.

The next morning, one of KIPP's financial institutions contacted officials to alert them to suspicious activity on an account. The employee didn't show up to work Friday and has not been located since.

So far, officials have determined that a sum “in the low six figures” was missing. Brown declined to reveal the total amount because officials still are going through all their accounts. The employee was fired for not showing up to work.

The Police Department's white-collar crimes division is investigating, and police say the former employee, whom KIPP and SAPD declined to name, is a suspect...

Albuquerque Charter Vocational High School

STATE WARNS 2 ALBUQUERQUE CHARTER SCHOOLS; BOARDS COULD FACE SUSPENSION, August 23, 2005, Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico)

The Reader's Digest article that put Albuquerque Charter Vocational High School in the national spotlight was titled "Fixing America's Schools."

Oddly enough, the national story prompted a local inquiry that has landed school founder Danny Moon -- and the charter school's governing board -- in hot water. Now the state wants the problems fixed. Evidence has surfaced that Moon misused school funds and property and directed staff to keep "ghost students" on attendance logs to collect tens of thousands of dollars that Charter Vocational High School and a sister school weren't entitled to...

The Albuquerque Charter Vocational High School is one of the state's most high-profile charter schools and has even been touted by Gov. Bill Richardson.

The Reader's Digest article in May called the school a place that "could transform America's classrooms."

The magazine praised Moon for getting the "hardest-to reach" students interested in learning.

Some of Moon's neighbors read the article with interest, especially the part that mentioned students had built sheds as part of their schoolwork.

Moon had a storage shed on the Paradise Hills lot where he was building a new house, the neighbors noticed. They contacted state Sen. Joe Carraro, R-Albuquerque, with their suspicions after also watching vehicles with government license plates going back and forth from the construction site…

Moon is superintendent of both schools at an annual salary of $175,000.

Investigators concluded Moon used a state vehicle and credit card for personal use and took home a student-built storage shed without paying for it…

"Upon information and belief," her letter stated, "Mr. Moon has intentionally caused or directed subordinate staff" to report students as enrolled even though they had dropped out or were no longer in class.

The inflated enrollment counts resulted in the schools collecting tens of thousands of dollars extra each semester. The state pays roughly $3,000 per student enrolled.

Garcia's letter also criticized the boards for permitting Moon to hire family members as contractors...

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FORMER SUPERINTENDENT TO GO TO TRIAL, February 7, 2010, KRQE News 13 (Albuquerque, N.M.)

Nearly five year's ago, Larry Barker exposed a charter school accused of cooking the books and cheating taxpayers. The former superintendent's racketeering and fraud trail will start on Monday...

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CHARTER SCHOOL FOUNDER DIES, April 8, 2010, Albuquerque Journal

Danny Moon, who founded Albuquerque Charter Vocational High School, died from pneumonia complications Monday,

Moon, 60, was facing 63 counts related to his alleged misuse of funds and credit cards at the school. The charges included racketeering, fraud over $20,000, fraudulent use of a credit card, conspiracy, making or permitting false public vouchers, and embezzlement.

An initial trial for Moon began in February, but a mistrial was declared after Moon's health degenerated, and he was unable to continue. He collapsed after the third day of the trial.

His wife and daughter also faced two counts each in the charter school case. District Attorney's Office spokesman Pat Davis said prosecutors have not decided whether to pursue those charges.

"They were very superficial co-conspirators in this matter," he said...

Triumphant Charter School

EX-CHARTER SCHOOL PRINCIPAL GETS PROBATION FOR THEFT: USED SCHOOL CREDIT CARD TO TO BUY COACH, VUITTON BAGS, JEWELRY, DIET PILLS, June 10, 2010, Chicago Sun-Times

The 65-year-old former head of a now-defunct Chicago charter school was sentenced to three years of probation this afternoon for dipping into school funds to buy Louis Vuitton and Coach bags, hair care products and diet pills.

U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning also ordered Helen Hawkins to pay $48,370 in restitution for using the Triumphant Charter school’s American Express card.

Before she was sentenced, Hawkins told Manning that officials at the South Side school knew she was using the card for personal use. She said she used it to do something nice for the staff.

“I’m truly sorry for the misunderstanding,” she said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Angel Krull explained that Hawkins maintained that she was accruing points so she could treat the staff to gifts. But Krull said the credit card points were actually used to fund Hawkins’ daughter’s trips to Amsterdam, Philadelphia and London.

Hawkins, who was found guilty of embezzlement, never took responsibility for her crime, which ultimately led to the school losing its charter and closing, Krull said.

Even after Hawkins found out she was being investigated for using the credit card in 2004, she continued that behavior, prosecutors said.

Before the sentencing, Manning said she took into account the testimony and letters from Hawkins’ friends and former students who described her as a mentor and role model with great character.

“Maybe you just made a terrible mistake, but you also committed a crime,” Manning told Hawkins.

The case started with an investigation by the Chicago Public Schools’ Inspector General’s office, which questioned more than $250,000 in credit card charges, including almost $30,000 in charges at major department stores like Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue, designer leather shops including Louis Vuitton and Coach, as well as Elan Furs, Tommy Hilfiger and the Skymall Airline catalog.

In addition, the probe found charges totalling $2,000 for hair care products and cosmetics, $329 for appetite suppression pills and $5,800 for jewelry, said Chicago Schools Inspector General James Sullivan.