The leaders of a San Fernando Valley charter school now face 38 felony and misdemeanor counts of criminal charges, including fraud charges of embezzlement, money laundering and filing false tax returns. The Los Angeles Times reports that the defendants Eugene Selivanov and Tatyana Berkovich have denied any wrongdoing and they have a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney that plans to defend them of the various charges.
The defendants are two married Russian immigrants who have been accused of misusing public funds at Ivy Academia. The criminal charges grew out of a 2007 audit of Ivy Academia that showed transferred funds from the charter school that were not recorded into the school's books. Specific details of the criminal case have not been made public by the district attorney's Public Integrity Division.
Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Janet I. Levine says that this criminal case will largely be centered on how charter schools can operate. Since charter schools are public schools that can be independently managed, the lines can be easily blurred between a public and private institution. The attorney asserts that charter schools and traditional public schools in California "don't operate with the same exact set of bureaucratic rules."
Eugene Selivanov and Tatyana Berkovich have been accused of stealing more than $200,000 in public funds. If convicted of all the charges, Eugene Selivanov will face a maximum of 14 years and two months in state prison and his wife will face a maximum of nine years in state prison. Their arraignment was scheduled for last week, but has been postponed until next month.
Related Resources:
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Embezzlement - Criminal Law (FindLaw)
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Tax Penalties: Quick Reference Guide (FindLaw)
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