PATTERSON, Calif. — Two former Patterson Joint Unified School District officials recently pleaded guilty to running a $1.2 million embezzlement scheme.
U.S. prosecutors say 43-year-old Jeffrey Menge began serving as assistant superintendent of Patterson Joint Unified in 2018 and he went on to hire 44-year-old Eric Drabert as IT director.
The two began schemes to embezzle money from the school district, including enlisting the help of a company called CenCal Tech that Menge controlled.
According to court documents, Menge posed as a fictitious executive at CenCal Tech named Frank Barnes to collect more than $1.2 million in fraudulent transactions, billing the school district for items not delivered.
Menge and Drabert also reportedly purchased tools to run cryptocurrency mining farms on the school district's property, further enriching themselves with embezzled funds.
Prosecutors say Menge used the funds to remodel his home and purchase luxury cars while Drabert remodeled his vacation cabin.
The two will be sentenced in May. They each face a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
