Ex-School District Official Charged With Embezzlement

An ex-Lake Elsinore Unified School District official has been charged with draining approximately $5,000 from a district purchasing account he had access to.

According to spokesman John Hall of the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, Jose Carvajal, 30, was charged Monday with one felony count of embezzlement for allegedly stealing the money after his employment with the district ended in 2010.

Carvajal is out on bail and is scheduled for arraignment June 28, Hall said.

Carvajal served as a public information officer for the district. Last fall he accepted a post with the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District as a public information officer, but was subsequently let go after the embezzlement accusations surfaced.

Carvajal turned himself over to authorities on May 3, and was subsequently released on $5,000 bail.

“The district has cooperated with local authorities about the LEAP account and information related to the case; our intent to prosecute rests on the facts of the situation, however unfortunate they may be,” said Mark Dennis, spokesman for the school district.

CLARIFICATION: Greg Morrison, director of Legislative and Community Affairs for Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, said Carvajal "started his employment with EVMWD in October of 2010 and was dismissed from probation on April 25, 2011."

No reason was given to Patch for the dismissal.