This from 21alivenews.com: FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) – A former Huntington County Community Schools Corporation assistant superintendent was charged with 20 felonies Tuesday, a day after a state report showed he misspent nearly half a million dollars using gift cards bought with taxpayer dollars.
Former Assistant Superintendent Scott Bumgardner is charged with one count of corrupt business influence and 19 counts of theft, court records show.
He has not been arrested and no court hearings have been scheduled in the matter, according to a press release from Huntington County Prosecutor Jeremy Nix.
Police began investigating Bumgardner after an investigation showed he spent more than $26,000 while working for Marion Community Schools in Grant County, according to a probable cause affidavit written by Indiana State Police Detective Jonathan Cole. During an interview for that case, Bumgardner said used some of the money to buy gift cards for staff members as rewards for good work.
However, he said most of the money went toward his alcohol and gambling addictions, court records show. In that case, an investigation found that only $703 of $26,728.65 went toward legitimate school expenses.
Police continued to investigate Bumgardner’s history and found similar discrepancies at HCCSC, where he had been employed from August 2018 to Mach 2022, court documents say. They found that he purchased more than 600 gift cards of varying amounts:
- 300 gift cards with a value of $1,000
- 104 gift cards with a value of $800
- 5 gift cards with a value of $600
- 107 gift cards with a value of $500
- 40 gift cards with a value of $300
- 13 gift cards with a value of $250
- 25 gift cards with a value of $200
- 24 gift cards with a value of $100
The amount of money on the cards totaled $462,350.