Two former Lafayette Renaissance Charter Academy employees, Shameka Bazile and Marva Williams, were arrested late Monday on charges of public payroll fraud, theft and forgery in connection with the alleged misuse of tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds, The Current reports.
Bazile’s attorney, Kevin Stockstill, confirmed to The Current Monday night that his client turned herself in. Records from the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center show Bazile’s bail was set at $15,000 and Williams’ at $4,500. Both were later released.
As The Current first reported last week, the Lafayette Police Department launched a criminal investigation earlier this year into alleged payroll fraud at LRCA’s lower campus. The school is located on Vienne Lane, just off Pont des Mouton Road, and enrolls students from kindergarten through fourth-grade.
Bazile was the school’s administrative assistant, and Williams worked as regional school operations administrator.
Bazile, 40, and Williams, 49, are among four employees, along with the school’s principal, Clovis Benoit, who were terminated as a result of an internal investigation, which was turned over to LPD in early April. Benoit was not found to have been involved in the alleged payroll misconduct but was responsible for day-to-day oversight.
The internal investigation uncovered “possible falsification of time records, improper payroll entry, and unauthorized compensation payments,” according to a March 30 letter to the state auditor and district attorney from Charter Schools USA, which provides management services to LRCA’s governing entity.
To read the newspaper's full story with all the details, click here.
