A Mattapan woman charged in connection with misusing thousands of dollars in school funds agreed to plead guilty to her actions, acting United States Attorney Joshua Levy’s office said Tuesday.
Former New Mission School principal Naia Wilson, 60, was charged with one count of wire fraud, Levy’s office said in a statement.
The charge stems from the allegation that she engaged in a scheme to defraud Boston Public Schools of $38,806 by misusing school funds for her own personal misuse. In her role as head of New Mission School, Wilson would have to make a formal check request to the external fiscal agent for a check to be issued from the school’s bank account.
Between September 2016 and around May 2019, Wilson requested checks from the external fiscal agent to be issued in the name of other individuals, fraudulently endorse those checks to herself and then deposited them into her own bank account without the nominee ever knowing or authorizing her to do so, Levy’s office said.
Wilson then requested checks from the external fiscal agent, which were used to pay for two all-inclusive personal vacations to Barbados for Wilson and her friends in 2016 and 2018, Levy’s office said. For both trips, she requested that the agent issue checks payable to other people who went on the trips and then converted that money to pay for the all-inclusive hotel and airfare, and she fraudulently endorsed the checks used to pay for the 2018 trip.
“Protecting children is one of the very top priorities of this office and threats come in all forms. Here, Ms. Wilson is accused of diverting school funds for her personal benefit. We will not allow this type of gross abuse of authority and responsibility to fly under the radar. Individuals who take advantage of public trust to line their pockets will be investigated and held accountable,” Levy said in the statement.
The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.
“Today’s charges should serve as a reminder to municipal workers everywhere that there are serious consequences for such shameful conduct, and it is the taxpayers they serve and answer to at the end of the day,” FBI Boston acting special agent Christopher DiMenna said in the statement.
Wilson agreed to plead guilty and pay restitution, Levy’s office said. She will appear in Boston Federal Court at a later date.
