Former D.C. Schools auditor accused of filching $500,000, court papers show

Comments

 SEE HOW THIS STORY DEVELOPED

EMAIL STORY

PRINT STORY

» 341 days ago: Former D.C. Schools auditor accused of filching $500,000, court papers show «

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - A former top-ranking official in the District of Columbia’s Public Schools has been charged with making off with more than $500,000 in public money that was supposed to go to children in the city’s troubled schools, court documents filed Monday show.

Eugene P. Smith was the director of internal audits for the school system until 2002. He had been comptroller in the schools until taking the auditor’s job in 1999, according to court records.

Smith was charged in court papers Monday with pilfering the account of the New Vistas Preparatory Public Charter School. Smith was “charged by information,” which is usually an indication of a guilty plea, because prosecutors can only bring such a charge when a defendant waives his right to a grand jury, according to court officials.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael K. Atkinson declined comment. Smith’s lawyer, Mary M. Petras, didn’t respond to calls seeking comment.

The Smith investigation, which was kept under wraps for four years, is another embarrassment to the city’s charter school program. Hundreds of millions of public dollars have been dumped into the city to create the charter schools, which are built on the premise that outsiders can run schools better than the tired and bloated traditional bureaucracy. But test scores in the schools continue to lag, and several schools have crashed amid financial and criminal probes.

“When are we going to admit that no one is watching the charters?” asked Gina Arlotto, a public school parent and founder of the nonprofit group Save Our Schools D.C. “It’s surprising that this doesn’t happen more often.”

New Vistas was shuttered by the Board of Education in 2001, after two years of abject failure. Students were treated to a crumbling school building and often had to go without textbooks. There were also accusations of financial mismanagement.

It was Smith’s job to liquidate the more than $500,000 that had accrued in New Vistas’ bank accounts. Instead, Smith diverted the money into an account he controlled for his personal use. He got an ATM card on the account and then racked up nearly $50,000 in 114 charges for “personal benefit,” according to Monday’s charging documents.

No court date has been set in the case.

Deborah Gist, the state superintendent of education, said her newly created agency will take an aggressive approach to corruption in the school system she is now charged with monitoring.

“It’s unacceptable,” she said in a statement through her spokeswoman.

Got a tip on this story? Call Bill Myers at 202-459-4956 or e-mail bmyers@dcexaminer.com.

SEE HOW THIS STORY DEVELOPED

EMAIL STORY

PRINT STORY

» 341 days ago: Former D.C. Schools auditor accused of filching $500,000, court papers show «