With the recovery of $3 million in stolen taxpayers’ money Friday, Wake County school leaders hope they’re putting the school transportation fraud case behind them.
Barnes Motor & Parts Co., based in Wilson, pleaded guilty Friday to obtaining property by false pretenses. Barnes agreed to pay a $2.5 million criminal fine and an additional $500,000 civil settlement to the school district.
According to the story, this payment will recover the [known] losses from last year’s embezzlement case. School board member Carol Parker is on target:
“It’s wonderful that we’re getting taxpayer money back, but that’s not the point,” Parker said. “We lost it in the first place.”
Why don’t I feel entirely reassured?
To further reassure the public, the school board voted to spend $470,000 to hire an outside firm to examine the changes made by administrators and to look for other potential weaknesses.
