Witnesses identify officials' purchases (more D.C. corruption)

The Washington Times ^ | 6-29-05 | Arlo Wagner

[JZelle]

A former Adriana Furs employee testified yesterday in the trial of former Washington Teachers Union officials, identifying five fur coats that she said defendant Gwendolyn M. Hemphill or family members purchased. "She didn't want her husband to know she was buying a fur coat," said Aki Shabani of the first purchase in 1999 -- a full-length mink coat worth about $4,096, which had Mrs. Hemphill's name monogrammed on the inside. Mrs. Hemphill, 63, a former officer manager, and former union Treasurer James O. Baxter II, 50, are charged with conspiracy and aiding and abetting in the theft of nearly $5 million from the late 1990s until 2002. Prosecutors in U.S. District Court also presented testimony and evidence yesterday that the former officials also spent thousands of dollars on silk dresses, picture frames and Washington Wizards basketball tickets. Former accountant James Goosby Jr., 55, is charged with helping hide the thefts by filing phony financial reports. His name was mentioned yesterday, only for signing the Internal Revenue Service papers. Mrs. Shabani also said Mrs. Hemphill's son-in-law, Michael Martin, came into the store at least three times to purchase fur coats, including a jacket and a vest for himself. However, she could not remember Barbara A. Bullock, the former union president who is serving nine years in prison for embezzlement and had testified that she accompanied Mr. Martin on coat-buying trips.

[JZelle]

Hightest per pupil expenditure in the country. I wonder why?

[tfecw]

This truly kills me.

I mentioned it the earlier today on another post, but i seriously think I could run a school that out performs and is half the cost of a DC school. Maybe when I get a little older and wiser.