MAIZE, Kan. (AP) - A Kansas school district has recovered almost half a million dollars from the estate of a former technology director who was the subject of a federal probe into a fraud, money laundering and kickback scheme.
Ramon Mosate, who had worked for the Maize school district since 1997, was placed on leave in November 2014 after FBI agents executed a search warrant at the district’s headquarters. He was fired in February 2015 and killed himself in Texas two months later.
An FBI affidavit chronicled years of money transfers and cash payments between Mosate and several vendors who were paid more than $4 million for technology-related services, The Wichita Eagle (https://bit.ly/2fkXcwZ) reported.
According to court records obtained by the newspaper, a U.S. District Court judge ordered that $78,651 be paid to Mosate’s widow, Angie, and the remainder of the estate’s proceeds - nearly $490,000 - go to the Maize school district, which had made a claim “in excess of $500,000.”
The FBI believes Mosates’ home in northwest Wichita and the contents of his checking account and a safe deposit box containing about $80,000 case were funded by criminal activity.
The Mosates’ 6,000-square-foot, six-bedroom home was last appraised at $628,600, according to Sedgwick County tax records. The house sold in September 2015 for about $483,000, but proceeds were held in lien pending lawsuits.
In a statement to school district employees, Maize superintendent Chad Higgins said the settlement is “positive news for our district.”
“Though this total does not equal all of the potential financial losses, Maize Schools is grateful to the officials who worked to recover taxpayer resources that belong in our district, our classrooms, and our community,” the superintendent said.
The settlement payment, which the district received this week, will go into the district’s capital outlay fund where it “could protect the district financially as we continue in an uncertain atmosphere of public school funding with potential cuts following the election,” Higgins said.
The Maize district’s claim against the estate of Ramon Mosate sought damages for “fraud, conversion, and civil theft, and breach of contract in connection with . embezzlement of funds.”
Angie Mosate, who had worked for the district as a curriculum clerk until being fired in March 2015, said in a court document that she was unaware of any alleged illegal acts committed by her late husband. She argued that any proceeds from his estate belong to her and the couple’s four children.
___
Information from: The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, https://www.kansas.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.