EXCERPT: ...
In a case described as "textbook corruption,"
longtime Franklin-McKinley School District schools trustee John Lindner has been charged with stealing nearly $30,000 in bond campaign funds that prosecutors say he spent on travel and personal expenses.
Lindner, 55, turned himself in to authorities Thursday on felony charges of grand theft and perjury, and misdemeanor violations of the Political Reform Act. He was freed after posting $35,000 bail. ...
The criminal charges piggyback on an investigation earlier this year by
the state's Fair Political Practices Commission probing Lindner's management of funds for the "Franklin-McKinley for Our Kids - Yes on Measure J 2010" campaign. In October, he agreed with the commission to pay a $18,500 fine to the state.
The FPPC report found that Lindner, while serving as the campaign's treasurer, used unspent funds to "make personal purchases of lumber and travel" and "withdrew cash and transferred money to his personal bank account," prosecutors said. ...
The five felony and five misdemeanor counts are fairly serious, Chase said. "It's stealing money that people expected to be used to get public support for a school bond measure."
Chase called the case "textbook corruption"
and pointed out that Lindner was not just an ordinary community volunteer. Chase noted that Lindner was in a place of public trust with decision-making power over how contracts would be awarded. Most of the funds for the bond campaign came from contractors and others hoping to do business with the district. Voters ultimately approved the $50 million bond measure in November 2010.
According to prosecutors, Lindner "had bled the account almost dry," but "continued to file periodic disclosure forms reporting that the fund had $13,000."
Lindner had declared in a filing that he was terminating the bond campaign committee. He also claimed he distributed remaining funds in amounts less than $100 to "unnamed civic donation recipients," according to the FPPC.
An alert employee in the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voter's office notified the FPPC of that unusual claim. ...
The FPPC reported that Lindner told its investigator that he had placed cash in envelopes and anonymously donated to about 140 schools and nonprofit groups, but he could not name any of the groups. ...
He is scheduled to be arraigned in Santa Clara County Superior Court on Jan. 19. The crimes he's accused of committing are punishable by jail time and fines in excess of $250,000, according to the District Attorney's Office....
