SANTA ANA, Calif.—A former Magnolia School District official was arrested Thursday on federal charges of embezzling about $14 million from the Anaheim school district.
Jorge Armando Contreras, 52, of Yorba Linda, was charged in a federal complaint of embezzling money from federal funds from August 2016 through July, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Contreras made his first appearance in federal court in Santa Ana on Thursday when he was ordered jailed without bond. He was scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 27.
Contreras was the senior director of fiscal services for the district which serves preschool through sixth-grade students in Anaheim and Stanton. He began working for the district in 2006 and was placed on administrative leave in August.
Contreras was accused of embezzling about $4.1 million of the total from August 2022 through July 2023, prosecutors said.
