OIG investigated allegations that a school board member of a tribally controlled grant school embezzled school funds, attempted to bribe a tribal council representative, and intentionally withheld maintenance of the school gymnasium’s plumbing and fire extinguishers. We also investigated allegations that a former school administrator attempted to steal funds from the school’s activity account after she left the school.
We did not substantiate any of the allegations against the school board member and found no evidence of embezzlement or bribery. We also found that the school’s fire extinguishers had recently been inspected and the plumbing in the gymnasium had been repaired.
We confirmed that the former administrator attempted to remove funds when she tried to cash a cashier’s check for $122,000 from the school’s activity account. The former administrator denied she was stealing the funds and claimed she was simply safeguarding the money from embezzlement by the school board. The legality of the withdrawal was further confused because the former administrator was still an authorized signatory on the account at the time of the withdrawal.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico declined to prosecute this matter.