$500 per iPad?
From one of our regular readers:
- No doubt it's an inside job. The thieves didn't just make a lucky guess those iPads were sitting there, someone tipped them off. But this is the part of the article that got my attention: ..........'The school’s assistant principal told police 141 iPads valued at $70,500 had been stolen.'
Now I don't know who does the purchasing at CPS, it's irrelevant. But that info from the Asst Principal tells one all you need to know why the CPS is goddamn broke!!
Some asshole at CPS or the school paid $500 a fucking piece for the iPads -- which is OVER the fucking RETAIL price!! Best Buy is selling these: 'Apple - iPad 2 with Wi-Fi - 16GB - White: $399.99. That's brand fucking NEW to anyone who walks in off the street.
So whatever asshole paid $500.00 fucking dollars each for a BULK PURCHASE should be in fucking jail! (Dammit to hell, fuck them!)
We've pointed this out occasionally in the past - the markup on run-of-the-mill items through "approved vendors" is astounding, and we are amazed year in and year out that no one in the media ever picks up on it. It accounts for tens of millions of dollars a year, maybe even more, and maybe even Outfit connected. A quick example:
- Copy paper - you can find it all over the internet and brick-and-mortar stores in a variety of packages and prices. In a quick five minute stretch, we found 5,000 sheets for $45.99 at Staples and $25.97 at Wal*Mart. For 2,500 sheets, Amazon has it for $28.61, Office Depot for $27.29 and CostCo for $18.99. These are house brands, nothing fancy. What do you think the Department pays for a box of paper? The boxes we currently see have no labels at all - generic paper. CostCo special? Or Staples specials? No idea, but it comes through an "approved vendor" who tacks on his "fee." Per case. You think it's cheap? Why not open a corporate account at Wal*Mart?
And that's just paper. We know for a fact that all sorts of office supplies and Department material is obtained through a vendor who has a Madison Street address on the west side. It's a blank storefront, chained and locked, never open, but dozens upon dozens of contracts are funneled through this address. Forward the building phone to an answering service and you don't even have to set foot in the bad part of town....but your address is in the heart of homicide central.
Literally, tens of millions is siphoned off to connected companies or individuals, no one says a word and the media doesn't seem to want to connect the dots. It probably wouldn't even take an FOIA request - the City budget is online, City bidded contracts are online, we assume the media still has interns, bicycles and cars.
But hey, what's a few tens of millions of dollars flushed down the toilet? It's not like there's a $600 million pension balloon payment looming on the horizon.
Literally, tens of millions is siphoned off to connected companies or individuals, no one says a word and the media doesn't seem to want to connect the dots. It probably wouldn't even take an FOIA request - the City budget is online, City bidded contracts are online, we assume the media still has interns, bicycles and cars.
But hey, what's a few tens of millions of dollars flushed down the toilet? It's not like there's a $600 million pension balloon payment looming on the horizon.
Labels: money questions
posted by SCC at 12:03 AM
60 Comments:
iPads, depending on their memory, cost more than $399, and Apple does not give much of a discount to schools. 16GB iPads aren't really useful to schools, you at least need 32GB ones, and those do cost $500.
Off Topic:
So the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago wants to hick the hourly wages up for what will translate to part-time workers...no benes, not notin'. So, the next thing they will realize is that 'everything will go up in price and the fooled part-time workers will be the losers once again..they can take that to the bank. Stupid is as stupid does!!!
Please stop calling Madison Street Madison "Avenue".
There is a Madison Avenue in Manhattan, NYC--NOT Chicago.
In the private sector, we're always forced to try to find cheaper deals, including squeezing the balls of vendors. Of course, city government won't.
But not to be a downer, but the cost of new iPads and what the city paid is in line with what most vendors (including Apple) sell them for. I'm guessing that they were the new iPad Air's at $499 a piece + warranty - $5 or so for the edu discount.
But there's no incentive for saving money. Hell, I did corporate IT purchasing and kicked ass at it. But if I saved six figures, I wouldn't get a thanks. But if you overspend with an "approved vendor", you get "free stuff" from them (game tickets, lunches, etc.) and everyone loves free stuff. Think of it as the corporate purchasing version of the "ghetto lottery".
System solutions inc. Naperville
Damn straight SCC. I needed a specialized tool for a job and found it online for about $150.00. This was not a "personal" tool, but a shop tool for a specialized application, so it was the City's responsibility to provide it. I forwarded the information to our purchasing agent. He was required to purchase the tool from the approved vendor who charged the City $450.00.
This was just for one tool. Imagine all the trade shops in the City and how the costs must add up.
Chill out. It's only tax dollars. There is lots more where that came from. There are advantages to buying from approved vendors, you don't have when buying at Costco.
Hello, can you say Inspector General?
Its only public money. How long has this type of malarkey been going on? What about the “open” bidding processes. Who runs the successful bidder’s firm? Where is the money routed and what names are associated with these accounts? How about political affiliations and campaign contributions? How about insiders in these firms who were onced employed in government?
Even a half-ass alleged investigative reporter (i.e. Chuck, Pam and Dave) could see this one.
For example, if the city needed a 'widget' available in most any retail store, they get a 'connected' minority middle-man who has the item delivered from said retail store and simply tacks on his/her profit so it can be considered as minority contractor involvement.
So, five-hundred dollars for a four hundred dollar lap top... a mere drop in the bucket example of an everyday policy.
I can't wait to see THIS expose. (Cue the Crickets)
What storefront on Madison avenue isn't run down and doors chained?
Madison Avenue past Western Avenue looks like something out of the walking dead.
Zombie apocalypse!!
Yes. And let me guess...the expensive iPads were the types that could only be purchased from that store run by the alderman's nephew.
they all buy from their relatives after they tell that relative to open a computer or t-shirt or book or paper or food business.
It's not just the money, it prevents us from getting things we need to do our job. We can't order some things because there is no 'approved' vendor for that particular thing. So we do without or get something "similar".
They will tell you a thousand reasons why, but it comes down to this: someone has to make their cut.
Lt Col Dave Grossman points out that a $3.99 Kindle loaded with all of the school books required reading would perform all of the required tasks as specified and... bonus: have no value on the resale market. WiFi IPads, brilliant idea.
500.00 a pop sounds like the 32GB Ipad.
Which would be a retail price discount of 99.00 each for bulk purchase. Which isn't actually bad.
My issue is what student needs a damn Ipad in school in the first place?
My Jr High and High School had computer labs. We did our stuff there. There was no internet connection for student use computers...only the staff had access via password to get online. And while I graduated high school in '92...commercial ISP's started popping up as early as the 80's.
If I needed to research something for a report or a project, I went to the Library and got out the good old Encyclopedia for it or did the Dial Up AOL at home on my computer.
This type of item for students isn't necessary.
The Dept gets copy paper from Office Depot at $29.00 a case.The vendor you are talking about has been gone for almost 2yrs.
The media in Chicago is pathetic. The beach closing due to "heat" and their failure to report the real reasons why the beach closed that day is everything you need to know.
The price may include additional software needed for school use. And since they are (were) to be used by kids, they may have had some sort of additional warranty coverage. Just saying.
CPS has all kinds of sweetheart deals with connected people here's one $240,000 deal from 2005to 2011 and this guy has been doing business with CPS and this school for 35 years:
Lane Tech Alum Accused in No-Bid School Uniform Deal
By Ted Cox on January 3, 2014
A CPS report suggests Lane Tech skirted bidding requirements and purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of school uniforms from a business owned by a prominent alum.
ROSCOE VILLAGE — A Chicago Public Schools investigation found that a Lane Tech alumnus was involved in a sweetheart deal that allowed him to sell more than $240,000 in gym and sports uniforms to the school without a bidding process.
That alum also ran the school's booster program, which the report said was allowed to pocket $83,000in cash receipts from sporting events from 2005 to 2011, when "the arrangement ended and the booster club paid back" just over $11,000.
The allegation, in the most recent annual report issued Friday by CPS Inspector General James Sullivan, did not name the alumnus nor the school.
According to sources, however, the description fits events at Lane Tech, where alumnus Tony Chronis owned a company that provided uniforms and also ran the Lane Tech Football Booster Club.
The no-bid arrangement was a violation of CPS procurement rules.
According to the report, the school bought $59,000 in uniforms from the company in 2010, $89,000 in 2011 and $95,000 in 2012, often in increments "regularly and deliberately kept below $10,000 to avoid bidding requirements."
According to the report, the school also hired the alum's nephew as a physical education teacher, identified as George Stavrakas, who also coached the girls' softball team for nine years.
Former principal Antoinette Lobosco left the school in 2012, and the report said she was "designated ineligible to be rehired." It added that "disciplinary sanctions" against the alum and his company are "pending."
Sources also said new principal Christopher Dignam, a Lane alum, had acknowledged the charges to staff and "cleaned house" upon taking the top position in 2012.
Chronis could not be reached for comment.
Brown: CPS's new milk delivery system better than cheesy old contract ...
www.suntimes.com/.../brown-cpss-new-milk-delivery-system-better-than... Jun 24, 2013 ...
For two decades, the politically-connected McMahon family has had held a tight grip — some would say chokehold — on the lucrative business of providing milk to Chicago’s school children.
That is due to change Wednesday when the Chicago Board of Education is expected to vote to approve a new food service contract that will combine food and milk under one vendor.
Until now, Chicago Public Schools officials say, this was one of the only school systems in the country to buy its milk separately from the rest of its food service — necessitating separate deliveries.
One result, Chicago Public School officials say, is that CPS was paying 24 cents for each half pint carton of milk, compared to a national industry average of just 19-20 cents a carton.
The new combined food service contract calls for CPS to pay $97 million next year to Aramark — a savings of $12 million over this year. CPS officials attribute $4 million of that savings to the milk part of the equation.
Then its anyones wonder why people avoid paying taxes in this area like it is a disease! You could save the city millions of dollars just by going to Costco to buy supplies off the pallets in the warehouse! Why can't that be legal to do for any government agency? Unbelievable!
CPS wastes money in kinds of amounts, see here: (http://www.csc.cps.k12.il.us/purchasing/contract_history/2014_00.xml)
In fact, one principal (Kenneth Hunter of Prosser Career Academy HS) thought oe CPS survey was such a joke, he had his faculty 'game' the survey to make himself look better.
Prosser Staff 'Gamed' CPS Survey, Gave H.S. Leaders Inflated Marks: Sources
By Ted Cox on May 22, 2014
BELMONT CRAGIN — After years of giving Prosser Career Academy's leaders bad reviews on a CPS survey, the school's teachers last year handed out stellar grades in an effort to manipulate the survey and keep the school out of the line of fire, sources familiar with the situation said.
In the "5Essentials" survey, Prosser Career Academy High School went from a 42 leadership rating on a scale of 1-100 in 2012 to a 74 leadership rating last year — a 32-point jump.
The school went from a "neutral" score on leadership — well below similar schools and the citywide CPS average — to a "strong" leadership score at the level of some of the top selective-enrollment schools in the city. Good scores on the survey indicate schools are more likely to improve student learning, according to the University of Chicago Consortium, which administers the survey.
The huge jump in leadership scores from 2012-2013 came even though the leadership at the school was unchanged, with Principal Kenneth Hunter in place for the last 10 years. He has gone on medical leave this year and not announced whether he will return.
The biggest boost on the survey last year went to categories that directly mentioned the principal.
Hunter's marks on "principal instructional leadership" — which measures whether the "principal is an active and skilled instructional leader" went from 34, which is considered "weak," to 71, which ranks as "strong." "Teacher-principal trust" went from 35 to 75.
All the scores factored into the 74 overall leadership rating.
At the same time, the average CPS score on the leadership survey slipped slightly from 53 to 52, while "similar schools" to Prosser rose slightly from 55 to 60. By comparison, neighborhood high schools such as Taft had a 51 leadership rating, and Schurz a 27, while the Prosser scores were more in the range of top selective-enrollment high schools like Northside College Prep, at 79, or Walter Payton College Prep, at 73.
http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20140522/belmont-cragin/prosser-staff-gamed-cps-survey-gave-hs-leaders-inflated-marks-sources
Mine cost $899, so they got a great deal!
Vendor program is the biggest money laundering scheme designed to give connected folks money.
Example: in my unit we order a piece of equipment that values at 25k using grant funds (another scam) and then our boss has to forward our order to the "vendor". They get paperwork, call the company to verify our order, but now the price is 35k. I hope that makes you as sick as well.
This is not an isolated incident. It happens daily. With the city stealing grant funds to pay for their pet projects to a useless vendor program it's a wonder we hadn't passed Detroit up years ago.
I work in the purchasing department at a local university. Do you know for a fact that the iPads that were stolen were the exact same models as the $399 version on the Best Buy website?
I'm not saying you're wrong, but I do know from experience that just because you can find something cheaper online doesn't mean it is the same item. For example, we have Dell computers as one of our preferred vendors. Occasionally people will point to a Best Buy sale (where the Best Buy price is less than our contract price) as evidence that our Dell contract "sucks." Well, the Best Buy computer has no warranty (ours has 3 years, and it will be replaced or fixed on site the very next day if there is an issue). The Best Buy computer can't be returned if it is opened (ours can be returned within 30 days). Plus, they are not even the same unit: the Best Buy computer is actually made from crappy parts and it will probably go bad in a couple years (ours is a business-grade unit that should last at least four years).
Again, not saying you're necessarily wrong, there definitely could be corruption in the purchase of these iPads, but I'm just saying that this sort of post, without knowing exactly what was purchased, reeks of you looking for something to complain about without knowing all the facts.
Now SCC, how are all of the Pols going to get their kick backs...er...donations if there aren't vendors.
Here's the biggest scam going throughout CPS:
In the Chicago Public Schools, teachers holding a Master’s degree can earn $3,500 more per year that those with a Bachelor’s degree.
Currently, CPS employs 22,519 teachers (49.7 White, 24.3 African American, 18.6 Hispanic, Other 7.3).
47% (10,584) of CPS teachers hold an advanced degree (Masters degree or higher)
70% (7,408) of those holding an advanced degree DON'T use their degree in their current position.
So, City of Chicago taxpayers are on the hook for paying CPS teachers with an advanced degree an additional $37,044,000/ year with $25,928,000/yr. of that amount paying CPS teachers NOT using their advanced degrees in their current position.
The extra 100$ is kick back money!
The person who accepts the bids get free hotels, trips, golfclubs, and free ipad to test drive!
You notice NOT ONE person knows who approves these purchases.
The dead tree media cant find a story if it blew up on them.
You might as well chop them up and send them in a box the reporters do all their research with GOOGLE.
I own stores that sell things that CPS buys. The bid process is not helpful to obtaining the lowest price for CPS. The biggest obstacle is the inventory/order tracking requirement available to be viewed on the computer by the buyer. It's rigged so that the biggest fish get the business unless you are a special class.
America
CPS doesn't even actually own the IPads, they lease them for that much. We grabbed a guy who stole some from a CPS and we had to find the lease agreement in order to put them down as the actual victim
Thats the Chicago Democrat Way. They place, at every possible point, a middleman to assure indebted voters and money keep them in power.
The examples are endless.
I often have to take my mother to the Dr. She's wheelchair bound. I use to be able to call the cab co. directly and call for a cab, with little trouble. But, the city instituted a middleman policy where now you have to call some middleman co. that calls the the cab co. for a hadicap accessable cab.
The cab co. tells me the city has required this.
Well, now when I call for a cab, half the time it doesnt show up at all or it arrives so late we miss her Dr.s appointment.
Now the whole thing takes twice the time it use to when I called the cab cos. myself.
Why? Money and votes.
Take the example of the VA scandal. One of the best ways to address how bad the situation there is, is for the bad performers to be fired, but its nearly impossible to fire union gov't employees.
The Reblicans in congress recently tried to change that and the Democrats killed it.
Money and votes.
You sayin' that our children should be gettin' cheap shit? Our babies need the highest quality items to learn! They the future leaders of this city! Take it back if it don't cost a lot!
There are no cheap IPads. $399.99 is the price for a lower level IPad 3. The price. Apple doesn't discount. Apple doesn't put them on sale. Apple doesn't let Best Buy or anyone else do this either. so, even if the schools went with the cheapest, least useful IPad, $399.99... TO START! if you think they bulk discount...um...no.
If your reader has ever SEEN an IPAD in person, he would know that it is very delicate. If you expect it to last more than five minutes in the hands of school children, you need a case for it. A decent case can be anywhere from $20.00 to $58.83 today on Amazon for an OtterBox case (you can repeatedly drop them in this case with no damage, but I digress).
FURTHER, for school purposes, you are going to want actual educational software on it. While some such software can be found cheap or free, if it is useful, it is neither. If you are buying hundreds of these, you are going to order the IPad with this software pre-installed from the vendor (economies of scale alone make it way cheaper than paying a salaried employee to install several programs on each individual IPad).
All this adds up to at least $500.00 (at least $600.00, if it were the newer IPad Air). Even more if they were smart enough to have a school safe to store these in.
So, in conclusion, your rabid low-information voter who contributed his rant to this post, is...(damn, no inoffensive words come to mind...maybe "rethuglican"?is that offensive?) shall we say "uneducated" in these matters.
one would think that with the journalism schools in il, this would be a great project for their students....
"We know for a fact that all sorts of office supplies and Department material is obtained through a vendor who has a Madison Street address on the west side. It's a blank storefront, chained and locked, never open, but dozens upon dozens of contracts are funneled through this address. Forward the building phone to an answering service and you don't even have to set foot in the bad part of town..." -- SCC
Rahm's "transparency" at its finest!
Look out for those scrap-yard-type Dobermans he must have in there...just shove over thoo the hole in the do', take yo s__t an' go.
Radio report the other day -- only 20% of schools with all this expensive gear (that goes obsolete by the day) have teachers qualified to instruct in its use.
No matter. Ipads are just more objects to lose on the bus or throw at each other in fights...you didn't work for it, you didn't pay for it, you don't care about it.
WHOOO!
Is dat ol' devil "Financial Fuckery" hiding in the details?
>Glances around the room... Spies some smallish and expensive looking men's shoes sticking from under the bottom of the window curtains<
Oh joyous day! A rare opportunity to snatch a well heeled but nevertheless funky assed, doo-doo doin' muthafuckah out of his muthafuckin' Florsheims... Y'all just hold that thought, BRB...
Howdy Cousin! Whatcha doin' behind these here curtains?
>SAA-LAAAP!<
"OMG! Owwww my eye and you made me pee on myself!"
You're Fiscal Fuckery aren't you?
"Uhhhh... Huh?
>SAA-LAAAP!<
"EEEYAAHH! My eye again and you caused me to forcibly expel gas!"
>Fiscal Fuckery tries to get away,
running sound f/x<
Oh no you don't!
>Snatch dat collar so hard his shoes continue running without him...<
Chicago will never move forward until fiscal fuckery at the executive and municipal/corporate "partnership" (money laundering, obscene profiteering and political kickbacks) are dealt with in exquisite fashion.
These malfeasant m/fers should be tied face first to a lamp post and kicked in their ass parts until they croak...
Put the fear of God and upright men in these goofs.
They actually only took 123, not 141 like first thought. Asst principal double checked the serial numbers and realized her mistake after news affairs was notified. Johnny Mob
Just picked up a white 16GB Ipad 2 for one of my kids at Walmart for $299. Of course I bought it in the burbs to avoid the Chicago's sales tax.
They have to take care of their buddies......in ways different than I do.
Now, kees me you fool!!!!
These were the 16gb no wifi I pads and there are several juveniles in custody for this already, although the number of iPads recovered is low.
CPS math
It's not the massive corruption that's the problem, it's pensions obviously.
And the propaganda arm of politics continues the script to collapse the economy so the rich can create the new social order
There are so many kickback demands on City of Chicago purchases it's unbelievable. I was with a company that gave up trying to do business with the city, as the demands from aldercreatures and other city employees was unbelievable.
Of course it is an inside job. These mutts are too stupid for this kind of costly heist. Should be an investigation but there will not be because of this shady shitty city.
Absolutely believable -- heard from a City tradesman that there is a particular relatively expensive item they need quite often. (not going into details to protect the trade/tradesman)
Can be purchased from Grainger for about $200.00
City has to go thru approved vendor - our price? Close to $800. Guess what? Approved vendor just slaps a new label on the Grainger box and sends it to the city. Pay 4x as much, takes a week plus to get.
I was also told a while ago by a range guy that our ammo had to go thru some approved vendor in some western state - who had to take delivery because it was ammo. Put his markup on the stuff and sent it right back to Chicago. Can you imagine the shipping costs on a truck full of lead? And, was also told that we burn through enough of the stuff we would be allowed to open a corporate account direct thru the manufacturer.
Ahh, the costs associated with using your diversity funds....
OT: was delighted to read San Fran is back on board for the proposed museum. Thank God Lucas's ploy worked. Understanding that it's not over yet, need to know how to get Chiraq permanently off the list.
Head West George. It's just another crony boondoggle.
Ipad air with 3g will cost almost a grand....
i am a Chicago employee for over 30 years. I've seen the numbers and let me tell you all something...it is a MILLION TIMES WORSE THAT YOU THINK IT IS !(overpaying)
and one more thing, don't look to the media for any "investigation"
Those day's are LONG GONE!
"Ipad air with 3g will cost almost a grand."
and why would anyone with half a brain put "top of the line" in front of cps students???
oh that's right...
IT"S FOR THE CHILDREN
Here's more
5 years ago CPS forced many high schools to buy Science program at $60K/ year. Truck load of gallon sized distilled water and 3rd rate balances, table salt and other refuse equipment most of it unuseable. The distilled water gallon cost $5 bucks, at the store 50cents.
Smoke and mirrors
Taxpayers on the hook to divy for 148 k, because Rahm agreed to cover losses their first yr. Now as a taxpayer I never agreed to this. So a company that will be profitable after their first year ,taxpayers have to pay losses that they will probably write off ,and will we get the money back when they start making a profit?
What is in the state budget that will let the city tack on more cell phone fees to pay for 911?
City wants to hike your cell phone bill
By Bill Smith on May 5, 2014 - 6:22am
Evanston aldermen tonight are scheduled to vote on a resolution encouraging state lawmakers to raise taxes on cell phones in Illinois.
Illinois already has the fifth highest tax rate on cell phones in the nation, totalling 15.94 percent of a typical monthly bill, according to a study by the Tax Foundation.
City officials, in a memo to aldermen prepared for tonight's Rules Committee meeting, claim the new tax hike is needed to help fund the city's 911 emergency phone system.
The fees imposed for 911 service vary widely across the country.
Chicago is pushing also
Anonymous said...
There are no cheap IPads. $399.99 is the price for a lower level IPad 3. The price. Apple doesn't discount. Apple doesn't put them on sale. Apple doesn't let Best Buy or anyone else do this either. so, even if the schools went with the cheapest, least useful IPad, $399.99... TO START! if you think they bulk discount...um...no.
If your reader has ever SEEN an IPAD in person, he would know that it is very delicate. If you expect it to last more than five minutes in the hands of school children, you need a case for it. A decent case can be anywhere from $20.00 to $58.83 today on Amazon for an OtterBox case (you can repeatedly drop them in this case with no damage, but I digress).
FURTHER, for school purposes, you are going to want actual educational software on it. While some such software can be found cheap or free, if it is useful, it is neither. If you are buying hundreds of these, you are going to order the IPad with this software pre-installed from the vendor (economies of scale alone make it way cheaper than paying a salaried employee to install several programs on each individual IPad).
All this adds up to at least $500.00 (at least $600.00, if it were the newer IPad Air). Even more if they were smart enough to have a school safe to store these in.
So, in conclusion, your rabid low-information voter who contributed his rant to this post, is...(damn, no inoffensive words come to mind...maybe "rethuglican"?is that offensive?) shall we say "uneducated" in these matters.
5/30/2014 08:43:00 AM
____________________
Listen Skippy. This website and the commentators are doing a fantastic job. The information is being shared and people with more information (like you) add to the details. You might have part of the story and someone else might have another piece of the story. So, learn to look at the big picture.
Here's another two possible examples:
#1: Computers. Most of the major makers have government-direct purchase programs. Go to their site, spec out what you want, enter some municipal qualifying number and you get about 20% off. But in Chicago, you give the specs to Purchasing who routes it through the "approved vendor" who goes to the computer site, orders the computer, enters the number, gets the discount and delivers it to the city after adding 25% to the non-discounted price.
#2: Shotguns. City looked all over the country for a "approved minority vendor" to get shotguns. Got them for about $3 less than any gun store. Instead of going direct to the manufacturer and purchasing directly and avoiding the Federal Excise Tax on firearms.
Still more questions in case of deceased CPS worker who stole school funds
What really happened to Lake View High School wrestling coach and tech coordinator Roberto Tirado?
January 14, 2014
WBEZ/Monica Eng
Robert Tirado’s funeral happened in Chicago two months after he was found dead in a Tijuana hotel. Friends still wonder what happened.
A day after Chicago Public Schools filed a $1.6 million lawsuit against him for allegedly embezzling funds, Roberto Tirado’s mysterious case continues to offer more questions than answers, including: could he really have acted alone?
Two years ago this week Tirado was found dead in a hotel room in Tijuana, Mexico, according to the U.S. State Department.
Back in Chicago, the Lake View High School graduate had been a well-respected wrestling and swim coach at his alma mater where he also served as the school’s technology coordinator.
It was in that role that Tirado allegedly misappropriated nearly half a million dollars from school funds, over 10 years, through nine fake vendors, according to a CPS Inspector General’s report released this month.
“The vendors were actually individuals [he] knew when he went to high school or they went to high school when he worked there,” Inspector General Jim Sullivan told WBEZ. “So he created those vendors for CPS. And, over the course of a number years, he issued purchase orders and caused them to be paid in excess of $400,000.”
The report recommended that CPS try to recover some of the lost funds, and yesterday, CPS filed its lawsuit against Tirado’s estate to do just that.
Still many, like former Lake View special education teacher M.L. Rembert, wonder how a single employee could divert so much money through bogus vendors without setting off alarms.
“I’m still in a state of shock,” Rembert said. “I can’t believe that administrators that worked with this individual could, without checks and balances, not be aware of this. I find it so appalling. This was not the individual that I knew.”
Tirado’s alleged misappropriations were discovered during a routine audit of the school triggered by the arrival of a new principal Lilith Werner in the summer of 2011.
When the auditor discovered unusual reimbursements to Tirado, she brought in the CPS Inspector General’s office, which Sullivan, says, found “more serious issues.”
These included funneling the money through bogus purchase orders to vendor P.O. boxes that Tirado had established in Evanston, according to the IG’s report. In addition, more than $114 thousand of reimbursements from the school went to Tirado’s personal American Express card.
iPads are $399, AppleCare is $99 and it would be smart to add it since iPads are being handled by kids
action network redistribution of electronics.
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