DRIGGS — The Teton School District will request from the FBI and local law enforcement details regarding the investigation of a $20,000 fraud incident.
Attorney D. Andrew Rawlings will file a Freedom of Information Act request on the district’s behalf for all information regarding the 2017 incident, the district said in a news release Tuesday. Trustees decided Monday to pursue the records request.
The district’s insurance company, Idaho Counties Risk Management Program, reimbursed Teton for the $20,000 in losses. However, the district said it has never received a report for the case.
This 2017 case preceded last month’s $784,000 case of fraud involving the district. Local police and the FBI are investigating the most recent case.
Teton’s previous business manager, Carl Church, submitted the $784,000 electronic payment to what he purportedly thought was Headwaters Construction, which is under contract with the district to build a new school and provide other structural upgrades. Church, who worked for the district during both instances of fraud, resigned last month, though local police have said he is not a suspect in the current case.
Teton has recovered $484,332.66 of the $784,000.
A “standing-room-only crowd” attended Monday’s meeting, according to the district news release, with representatives from the district’s bank and Headwaters fielding questions about the most recent instance of fraud.
The Teton School District is located in Driggs, some 60 miles northeast of Idaho Falls.
