Free Republic

Five people have been charged in Texas with organizing and participating in an illegal cheating scheme that certified more than 200 unqualified teachers and helped the plot’s “kingpin” rake in more than $1 million, prosecutors said. In the scheme, people would typically pay $2,500 to have proxies take certification tests for them at two testing centers in Houston. The scandal involved bribing a testing proctor to allow test applicants and their proxies to switch places... Investigators noticed a pattern, they said: Numerous teacher certification candidates who previously failed certification exams would drive from faraway Texas cities to the Houston area...

Federal agents raided multiple properties connected to the daughter of an Orange County supervisor, who is accused of using taxpayer money to purchase a home. Rhiannon Do, an executive at Viet America Society (VAS) and the daughter of Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do, purchased a $1.035 million home in Tustin, California, last year... LAist's investigation, which began in November 2023, uncovered over $13 million in public money approved for the nonprofit. The FBI, IRS, and Orange County District Attorney's Office are conducting the investigation, following a civil lawsuit filed by the county against VAS for misappropriating $10.4 million in COVID...