Federal Inquiry Is Must in Wagner Case : Local Investigation Is Insufficient Since Embezzled Funds Include Federal Dollars

The fact that a former Newport-Mesa Unified School District official is cooperating with local investigators in a devastating financial scandal is not, by itself, any reason to keep the federal government from making its own inquiry. The argument that the local probe suffices is being made by the attorney for embezzlement suspect Stephen A. Wagner. But there is legitimate financial and symbolic merit in having the federal government look in, as has been announced.

There may be redemptive value, financially and otherwise, in the cooperation now being extended to the district attorney’s office by Wagner, the fired chief financial officer of the district. But it is not sufficient cause to keep the federal government out of the investigation.

Recently, the U.S. Justice Department opened its own inquiry into this remarkable case. Wagner has pleaded guilty to state charges of stealing more than $3.5 million from district accounts but has not faced any federal charges.

In entering the probe, U.S. Atty. Terry Bowers said that the accusations of embezzlement were so serious as to warrant a separate inquiry. He’s right. At the heart of the matter, is the question of school lunch money. There are few more powerful symbols of federal dollars at work than in feeding disadvantaged schoolchildren.

Federal officials have said that some of the missing millions may include federal funds intended for school lunches. So this area should not be ruled out for inquiry. And in Newport-Mesa, federal funds have been mixed in with other revenues in district accounts, making it unclear whether any of the more than $3.5 million missing was taken from federal sources.

So the public deserves to have this aspect of a bizarre case sorted out, even if it means adding a federal inquiry to that already being conducted at the local level.