Ex-Broward charter school head convicted of stealing funds to pay rent, private school
A former head of a Broward County charter school that had a history of issues was convicted of embezzling about $400,000 in federal funds from the school and wire fraud, a federal jury in Fort Lauderdale found Wednesday.
Jamika I. Williams, the former president of Advancement of Education in Scholars Corporation (AESC), a Florida nonprofit corporation that operated the now-defunct Paramount Charter School at 7100 W. Oakland Park Blvd. in Lauderhill, was found guilty on “two counts of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and 18 counts of wire fraud,” according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida.
Williams’ sentencing is set for June 7. She faces a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment for each charge related to the theft of government programs and 20 years in prison for each of the wire fraud charges. She also goes by the name of Jimika Mason.
What led to the charges?
Paramount, a K-8 school, operated for just two years, between 2015 and 2017. It received federal funds through Title 1, which is paid to a school when more than 50 percent of the students are eligible for free or reduced lunches.
During the two years that the school operated, trial evidence showed that Williams stole $398,957 from AESC’s business account and used that money to buy a vehicle and pay for “a private school, rent, and other personal expenses,” according to the release.
She transferred the funds from the AESC account into another account operated by Florida Scholars Educational Services Corp., where Williams was also president.
The school received $3,124,621 in state and federal funds while operating, according to the Sun Sentinel, which also documented issues at the school, including lights not working, water not running and a high teacher turnover that led students from different grades to be jammed into one room.
This story was originally published March 25, 2022 at 5:29 PM.
