STOCKTON, Calif. — A current Stockton Unified School District board trustee was arraigned Monday on charges including embezzlement and grand theft.
The San Joaquin District Attorney's Office said Angelann Flores' charges are as follows: making false or fraudulent claims, embezzlement by a public officer, grand theft: money/labor/property and embezzlement by a public or private officer.
Flores was arrested April 19 in connection with her alleged use of a district-issued credit card. She bailed out of jail after the arrest and remains released on her own recognizance.
Timeline
The formal investigation was launched a year ago, but suspicions brewed for several years.
In 2021, the county's grand jury released a scathing report alleging a lack of transparency, trustees disregarding their roles and widespread disregard of policies.
A year later, in June 2022, another scathing report was released painting the district as one teeming with poor business practices, a lack of transparency and headed toward a multi-million dollar budget shortfall.
Then, in February 2023, the state's Financial Crisis and Management Assistance Team released its audit filled with revelations and allegations of fraud, misappropriation of funds and illegal practices.
Among the findings was an alleged conflict of interest when the district's board approved buying nearly $7 million worth of air filters in 2021 from a company a now-former trustee endorsed and allegedly met with.
Months later, the company was no longer registered to do business in California and an ABC10 report found hundreds of the air filters were never installed. Flores was the only trustee to vote against the purchase and spoke out about the suspected fraud.
The charges Flores faces stem from her alleged usage of a school district-issued credit card. Investigators say she used it to buy more than $950 worth of food and fuel for personal gain. Deputies also allege she filed a false insurance claim for a non-school-district-related crash.
Flores' attorney, former San Joaquin District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar, called the arrest political, coming just months before an election.
