CHARLOTTE — If you asked a lab to create an expert on the ongoing Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools investigations, odds are it would produce Jonathan Vogel. Vogel practices education law, is a former prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte and was a deputy counsel for the U.S. Department of Investigation.
CMS is currently being investigated by the FBI, DOJ, SBI, State Auditor’s Office and Department of Public Instruction.
“This is real. This does get investigated federally,” attorney Vogel said. “This does get prosecuted. People can go to jail if the facts uncovered demonstrate a fraudulent scheme.”
When it comes to a federal investigation, he says it isn’t limited to federal funds. It goes further than just looking at proper contracting protocols and transparency. Federal investigators will look at whether money was intentionally given to an individual or entity knowing no services would be provided, whether there was some other kind of dishonest representation made to a governing board about contracts and whether kickbacks were made to people involved in funding.
Federal investigators can also examine corruption, including whether bribes were paid.
“Behind the scenes, federal law enforcement, and what we understand is being led by the FBI, is interviewing people who are willing to meet with them voluntarily,” he said. “If they haven’t already, they might issue grand jury subpoenas to the banks involved in order to get bank records.”
He says federal law enforcement has subpoena power through the grand jury process and can issue subpoenas to obtain documents and, in some cases, require testimony before a grand jury. All of this happens in secret while the investigation is being built.
One of the more complicated issues is the presence of Poyner Spruill, the law firm that acted as the bridge between Stephanie Sneed and Raki McGregor. He says the firm may try to claim its discussions with the CMS Board are protected by attorney-client privilege. But even if that happens, there is an exception to fraud.
“It’s a very challenging and sensitive area,” he said. “It’s not something that federal law enforcement or the U.S. attorney’s office will take lightly if they feel like it reaches that point.”
The FBI and DOJ have not said what they are investigating. The SBI was asked to investigate “financial irregularities.” State Auditor Dave Boliek confirmed his office is looking into financial irregularities as well.
The FBI and DOJ don’t typically confirm whether they are investigating something. They did in this case, but Vogel says not to read too much into that. The FBI will go where the facts lead, and confirmation doesn’t mean criminal charges are coming.
He also says not to expect a quick resolution. Fraud investigations can take six months to a year, and sometimes even longer.
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