School money manager accused of taking secret cash from contractor

A New Jersey school district once trusted a top finance officer who now faces federal charges. From 2021 to late 2021, the business administrator allegedly arranged for contractors to pay him cash in parking lots. He parked district vehicles at spots he chose and picked up envelopes stuffed with money from one contractor. Prosecutors say the pair started their deal soon after the contractor was hired to supervise building projects across the district. The scheme relied on fake overtime hours. Every week, the contractor claimed to work long extra hours on paper, even though actual time sheets showed far fewer. The business administrator signed off on these overstated invoices. The contractor earned $100 for each regular hour and $150 for every overtime hour he falsely logged. The school district then paid those inflated bills at the administrator’s direction. Prosecutors call this extortion and conspiracy. They noted one two-week stretch in September 2021 when the contractor claimed 90 overtime hours plus 80 regular hours – a schedule that would have required working every single hour of the day. Another week that month showed 60 overtime hours along with a full 40-hour week, supposedly spent inspecting damage from a recent hurricane.

The game changed in October 2021 when a second company hired the same contractor to install heating systems. This time the payments came as large lump sums rather than hourly wages. The contractor still managed to double-dip, billing both companies for overlapping days that added up to more than 24 hours in 24 hours. Between mid-October and late November, the contractor received over $107, 000 in lump sums. Altogether, prosecutors say the contractor collected about $160, 000. He allegedly handed over at least $70, 000 of that to the administrator in cash payments. The administrator resigned in December 2021 as county investigators began looking into the district’s finances. Two days later, the superintendent took a sudden leave, and resigned the following spring. This case is not the first time someone in the Hillsborough district has been caught faking overtime. In early 2023, another district leader pleaded guilty to paying kickbacks in exchange for approving false overtime claims. That person had to return roughly $137, 000 as part of the settlement. Both incidents show how easily trust in public office can be abused when no one is watching the watchers.

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