Authorities seized $7.7 million in property traced to his fraud, including a home in Yorba Linda, a 2021 BMW automobile, 57 luxury designer bags, jewelry, and high end tequila.

A former California public school district official was sentenced to over five years in prison Thursday after officials found he embezzled nearly $16.7 million from the district over the years — hiding stacks of cash in a small refrigerator.

Jorge Armando Contreras, 53, who previously worked as the senior director of fiscal services at the Magnolia School District, a public school district that serves Anaheim and Stanton, faced his judgement Thursday in Santa Ana court.

He was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $16,694,942 in restitution, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Central District of California said in a news release.

  • Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    51
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    3 months ago

    Prosecutors said that Contreras was hired in 2006 and managed the fiscal operations of the district, where 81% of pupils from preschool through sixth grade are classified as socio-economically disadvantaged. 

    Instead of using the money he was entrusted with managing to benefit the schools, he spent it on a lavish lifestyle purchasing Louis Vuitton designer bags, a luxury car and using the money towards a home.

    What a complete fucking asshole. Literally funding his lifestyle at the expense of impoverished kids.

  • Sludgehammer@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    21
    ·
    edit-2
    3 months ago

    The inside of that fridge looks moldy as hell.

    What gets me this dude embezzled so much but had no idea what to do with it once he got the money. Sure, let’s just jam your $16 mil in a old fridge to rot. At least buy a safe and a dehumidifier dude.