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MUSD’s Ruben Rojas was fired after only 8 months employment at Kern County Superintendent of Schools.
By Brian Hews
Last week, an ongoing exclusive HMG-CN investigation revealed that Montebello Unified School District Chief Business Officer Ruben Rojas defrauded public entities he has worked for since 2011 weaving a complex web of deceit, using bogus information on his employment applications.
During that time span, Rojas worked for two or more public entities and collected multiple paychecks at the same time, which constitutes fraud and is illegal.
The pattern indicated that Rojas, who was recently given a vote of no confidence by the California Schools Employee Association after a little more than a year at MUSD, was eventually found to be a complete fraud by his superiors after a few months at his position, and would either resign and con his way into another job or be placed on administrative leave, collecting money along the way.
Rojas was so convincing he even fooled Governor Brown’s Office of Appointment staff when he was appointed as Deputy Executive Director of the I-Bank in July 2013, a post he hurriedly and inexplicably left in early 2015.
But, as the HMG-CN investigation continues to unfold, many of the lies and fraudulent behavior flaunted by Rojas is catching up to him.
HMG-CN has obtained documents, including a letter from his boss, that show the embattled Rojas, while working for the Kern County Superintendent of Schools, was placed on paid administrative leave on March 19, 2012, only eight months after he was hired.
The Kern employment stint was not listed on Rojas’ application to MUSD.
Rojas had fraudulently indicated, as published exclusively last week by HMG-CN, that he worked for Elk Hills School District as Director of Finance and Administrative Services from July 2011 to July 2013, earning $10,000 per month.
In reality, Rojas had worked as a consultant for Elk Hills from May 2012 to Jan 2013, earning only $5,000 per month.
The sternly written letter, authored by Chris Hall, Assistant Superintendent of Support Services at Kern, left no doubt as to the severity of Rojas “misconduct.”
The letter started, “effective immediately, I am placing you (Rojas) on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into allegations that you committed misconduct.”
Some of the misconduct could be centered around a resume submitted to Kern that indicated Rojas worked as Chief of Staff for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Office of Ambulatory Care where Rojas indicated “he managed $125 million in public-private partnership contracts.”
That employment is not included in any documents obtained by HMG-CN.
The letter went on to indicate that the Rojas’ misconduct was severe, implying that Rojas could have threatened or harassed Kern staff and/or students.
The letter stated, “at this time, to protect Kern’s interest and yours, I am directing you to immediately surrender to me all keys to Kern property issued to you, all Kern credit cards issued to you, and any other Kern property, including documents and reports, in your possession.”
The letter finished, “You are directed to immediately leave Kern property, and stay away from Kern property and Kern sponsored events unless you have my prior express consent to enter, you are directed not to telephone or otherwise contact employees or current clients.”
Letter from Kern County to Ruben Rojas, placing Rojas on administrative leave, click on image to view larger document.
Defiantly, Rojas refused to acknowledge and sign the letter.
This is consistent with sources that have told HMG-CN that Rojas is a very abusive boss at MUSD, “always promoting his cronies who will follow his directions in front of staff that have more experience and constantly question Rojas’ ethics and integrity.”
Three weeks later, on April 10, 2012, Rojas was fired from his job at Kern.
The termination letter indicated that Rojas “failed to successfully complete the probationary period for the position of Division Administrator, therefore you are terminated as of April 30, 2012.”
One high-level source at MUSD who did not want to be identified told HMG-CN “It’s amazing how the Board alliance of Board President (Ben) Cardenas, (Joanna) Flores and (Edgar) Cisneros are allowing someone like Rojas, who has lied to the Governors office, has been terminated by several other school districts, has lied on his employment application with MUSD, and does not have the qualifications to manage the tax-payer funded $300 million dollar school bond or the $300 million budget of the school district, is completely being protected by a few on the school board. Many MUSD employees and insiders are afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation, but all believe the answer is clear, corruption, money, greed and power, all this while the parents, employees and students in the end will lose out due to lack of honest leadership. The only question that remains to be uncovered by the general public is why?”
Alliance? (l-r) Board President Ben Cardenas, and members Joanna Flores and Edgar Cisneros.
Last week’s exclusive story (link below) documenting Rojas’ deceitful trek since 2011.
HMG-CN Exposé: Governor Brown I-Bank Appointee Ruben Rojas Defrauded State, Several Other Employers
