LOS ANGELES, CA — In what prosecutors call one of the largest money laundering schemes in Los Angeles Unified School District history, a former schools information technology employee and a tech vendor are facing felony charges in connection with an alleged scheme that channeled more than $22 million in contracts to the vendor, officials announced Thursday.
The ex-LAUSD employee, Hong “Grace” Peng, 53, of Pasadena, is charged with one felony count each of money laundering and having a financial interest in a contract or purchase made in an official capacity.
Gautham Sampath, also 53, of Flower Mound, Texas, is charged with one felony count each of money laundering, having a financial interest in a contract or purchase made in an official capacity and aiding and abetting a government official to have a financial interest in a contract or purchase made in an official capacity.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Peng and an extradition warrant has been issued for Sampath. Arraignment for both defendants will be scheduled at a later date.
“This case involves a blatant abuse of public trust — funneling taxpayer dollars intended for students into personal coffers,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said in a statement. “This vendor, working with an LAUSD project manager, allegedly carried out a multi-year, multi-contract pay-to-play arrangement that siphoned millions of dollars from our schools. We will not tolerate public officials who sell out their responsibilities or contractors who line their pockets by gaming the system. Both will be held fully accountable.”
Prosecutors allege that between 2018 and 2022, Peng, who served as a technical project manager for LAUSD, illegally participated in the awarding of contracts primarily related to the district’s My Integrated Student Information System — known as MiSiS — to Innive, a company owned by Sampath. The contracts totaled more than $22 million.
Sampath is further accused of routing and laundering over $3 million back to Peng through various intermediaries, Hochman said.
Peng resigned from LAUSD after a search warrant related to the investigation was served at her home and her workplace in late 2022. Sampath and his company Innive currently have government contracts throughout California and across the country, prosecutors said.
If convicted as charged, each defendant would face up to seven years in county jail.
The case first come to light in April 2022. Since then, LAUSD’s Office of Inspector General and the DA’s Bureau of Investigation have been actively working on it, the DA said.
Prosecutors ask that if any member of the public has information of an organization that has entered into any contracts with Innive, please contact the DA’s Public Integrity Division at 213-257-2475 or submit information through the online form at: https://da.lacounty.gov/contact/email.
City News Service