District, PTA, School Staff Not Involved in Ponzi Scheme, Sheriff's Say

Sheriff's investigators said that no school employees at were involved in an alleged Ponzi scheme carried out by three mothers with connections to the school's PTA.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's investigators said Friday that no PTA money and no Pomona Unified School District administrators, teachers, or staff were involved in the scheme, but some with connections to the school were victims of the trio that allegedly used their positions in the PTA to gain trust with potential investors.

"If they used that position to take advantage of some people, that's very unfortunate," Pomona Unified PTA Council President Laura Mundy said.

Both Mundy and the school's principal, Cynthia Sanchez, entered their current roles in the fall of 2010, after the three women suspected of the scheme ended their involvement with the PTA, according to school district records.

"I don't know any of these women," Mundy said.

51-year-old Eva Perez, 50-year-old Juliana Menefee, and 41-year-old Maricela Barajas will stand trial on 22 felony counts, including grand theft and securities fraud.

PUSD spokesperson Gabriela De La Cruz said that Sanchez, the school's principal, also had no familiarity with the three suspects and that the district had no record of one suspect — 41-year-old Maricela Barajas (aka Maricela Torres) — being involved with the PTA at all. Reports from L.A. County Sheriff's Capt. Mike Parker said all three women were "highly involved" in the school's PTA.

De La Cruz said Menefee was on PTA rosters from 2008-2010 and Perez — who had been convicted of a separate but similar financial scheme in December of 2010 — was PTA president for half of the 2009-2010 school year.

District Superintendent Richard Martinez said he was "shocked" by the news and that the district first heard of the arrests and investigation through media reports.

Martinez said he was also surprised that he had not heard of Perez's conviction in December of 2010 on similar charges of grand theft and fraud in a San Bernardino court.

"What surprised me is that after (Perez) was arrested there was never a subpoena or we were never deposed as Armstrong staff or Pomona Unified," Martinez said.

De La Cruz said Perez had relatives that attended Neil Armstrong in the past, but she did not have children at the school at the time of her San Bernardino arrest.

Related Story: Investigators said Menefee and Barajas after hearing news of Perez's arrest in late 2010.

Martinez said he was then an assistant superintendent in the district and would have known of any notice the district received about Perez's arrest or the six-month investigation of Menefee and Barajas that led to their arrest in Diamond Bar Tuesday.

For the district and the PTA, Martinez also said he was disappointed by the news and that these suspects are accused of using the PTA to build contacts and find investors.

"It almost made it sound like PTA leadership was in the loop and I think that (Perez) was someone that took the seat for very different reasons," Martinez said.

Martinez said there are currently checks and balances — audits and district-wide oversight — to flag any PTA wrongdoing, but preventing business conducted from relationships formed through the PTA is more challenging.

"You have an organization that makes sure these things can't happen within the organization," Martinez said. "But when people establish relationships inside and then they do business and other things… that could happen on the soccer field or football field, too."

Martinez and Mundy said the district is working to organize a community forum toward the beginning of the school year — in August — that will allow parents and community members to address any concerns related to the district and the case.