Here's a fascinating sidebar from today's announcement of federal indictments being handed down for former DISD employees Ruben B. Bohuchot (the district's former chief technology officer) and William Frederick Coleman III (former deputy superintendent and chief operating officer): Coleman, after he left Dallas in 2000, went to Detroit to become...superintendent of Detroit Public Schools.
It's a job he lost on March 8, he claims, because he acted as a whistleblower. Reported The Detroit News earlier this month, Coleman "claims the Detroit Board of Education ousted him because he complained to the FBI and launched an internal investigation into district financial irregularities."
He's suing the Detroit school system for at least $25,000. And what were those financial irregularities? He "says the school system's chief financial officer tried to award a $2.2 million contract to the Long Insurance Co. without bidding it, a violation of policy," according to the paper and his lawsuit.
And to think, "financial irregularities" is what got Coleman indicted right here in Dallas:
The indictment charges Bohuchot, Wong and Coleman each with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery concerning a program receiving federal funds and one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. In addition, the indictment charges Bohuchot and Wong each with eight counts, and Coleman with two counts, of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds. Bohuchot is also charged with one count of obstruction of justice and two counts of making false statements on tax returns. Coleman is also charged with two counts of obstruction of justice.He's expected to surrender to authorities today. --Robert Wilonsky
