A former Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) information technology (IT) employee and the owner of a technology vendor company are facing felony charges for an alleged scheme that directed more than $22 million in district contracts to the vendor.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced the charges on Thursday and described the case as “the largest alleged money laundering operation” in the school district’s history.
Former school district employee Hong “Grace” Peng, 53, of Pasadena, and Gautham Sampath, 54, of Flower Mound, Texas, are accused of orchestrating a years-long “pay-to-play” scheme that allegedly steered more than $22 million in school district contracts to Sampath’s company, according the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.
“This case involves a blatant abuse of public trust — funneling taxpayer dollars intended for students into personal coffers,” Hochman said in a statement.
He continued, “This vendor, working with an LAUSD project manager, allegedly carried out a multi-year, multi-contract pay-to-play arrangement that siphoned millions of dollars from our schools.”
The district attorney added, “We will not tolerate public officials who sell out their responsibilities or contractors who line their pockets by gaming the system. Both will be held fully accountable.”
According to the prosecutor’s statement:
Between 2018 and 2022, Peng, who served as a technical project manager for LAUSD, is accused of illegally participating in the awarding of contracts primarily related to the district’s My Integrated Student Information System (known as MiSiS) to Innive, a company owned by Sampath. The contracts totaled more than $22 million. Sampath is further accused of routing and laundering over $3 million back to Peng through various intermediaries.
MiSiS has been described as a centralized digital platform for managing student data from pre-K to graduation. It tracks attendance, grades, enrollment, schedules, and health records in one place.
Peng resigned from her job after a search warrant related to the investigation was served at her home and her workplace in late 2022, prosecutors said.
Sampath and his company Innive currently have government contracts throughout California and across the country.
Prosecutors say they have messages between the two defendants that reveal discussions about deleting chats, securing contracts and moving funds.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Peng and an extradition warrant has been issued for Sampath.
If convicted as charged, each defendant faces up to seven years in county jail, the district attorney’s office said.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
