Who knew you can steal from the children of Detroit Schools and still collect a state pension?
Jennifer Chambers of the Detroit News writes an eye-opening piece that points out that the 12 former Detroit Public School principals and one administrator charged with felonies in a $2.7 million kickback and bribery scheme at the district, remain eligible for state pensions:
No known court order has been requested to revoke the state-funded pensions of 13 administrators who face federal charges or accepted plea agreements in connection with a scheme uncovered by an FBI investigation into the financially beleaguered district.
Gina Balaya, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said the federal government is seeking full restitution from all 14 defendants in the case, including school supplies vendor Norman Shy who is accused of paying $908,518 in exchange for $5 million in business with his company Allstate Sales and has pleaded guilty in the case.
The scheme deprived DPS students of more than $2.7 million in resources, officials said.
But the U.S. Attorney’s Office does not have standing to request a court order to revoke the pensions.
“They will all be ordered to pay restitution and maybe they can use their pensions to pay that, but we don’t have any legal standing to take the pensions,” Balaya said. The Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System fund pensions for both school administrators and teacher.
Michelle Zdrodowski, DPS spokeswoman, told the News that the pensions are governed by the state, but added that Emergency Manager Steven Rhodes will investigate legal options for recovering stolen funds.
