‘Ridiculous’: Teachers Association calls for accountability after scam loses Fresno Unified $2.3 million

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Fresno Unified School District is working to recover roughly $2.3 million lost in a scam in February 2024, a letter obtained from Fresno County has revealed.

The letter, which came from Fresno Unified’s legal team, was sent to Fresno County, saying it all started when a person posing as someone from district contractor Davis Moreno Construction reached out and submitted a change of address.

However, it was all part of a phishing scam.

“An individual that was posing as someone else ended up convincing the person at Fresno Unified to change a mailing address for a particular vendor. And so, Fresno Unified contacted us when payments were being requested,” said Fresno County District 5 Supervisor Nathan Magsig.

Magsig, who spoke with YourCentralValley.com Wednesday to explain the county’s role in what happened, shared that they hold the funds for each of the county’s school districts and send out payments on their behalf.

He says that’s exactly what happened in this case, when in February 2024, Fresno Unified requested two payments be made to Davis Moreno Construction, for a grand total of $2,330,753.

“Those payments are only made when the appropriate individuals and authorities make a request to us,” said Magsig. “Where it appears there was a breakdown is someone was a victim to a scam there in Fresno Unified.”

The money was deposited at a ‘First Community Credit Union’ in North Dakota, where the scammers withdrew $1.25 million, which is still unaccounted for.

For some unknown reason, they left over $1 million in the credit union account. Now the school district is fighting to get that back. 

“It’s concerning that a $2 billion organization could get scammed by the same types of scams that you see happen with gift cards. It’s absolutely ridiculous,” said Fresno Teachers Association President Manuel Bonilla.

Bonilla, visibly frustrated while discussing the news, says this is just the latest example of Fresno Unified being fiscally irresponsible. 

He says he wants change.

“Do we need those budget cuts if we’re losing all this money via scam and other wasteful spending? Absolutely not,” he said. “So, we really need some accountability. When does that happen? We’re waiting for it.”

The district, meanwhile, issued us the following statement:

“District staff has been working diligently with federal law enforcement to recover the funds. We have added specific measures to mitigate any reoccurrences. The district takes these matters seriously and is cooperating fully with the investigation.”

Bonilla, meanwhile, says a statement is not enough and called on district leadership to offer more.

“I’m calling on the superintendent and board leadership, come out, press conference, and answer questions directly from the media,” he said. “This isn’t a private organization. This is taxpayer money.”