Superintendent Charged with Misappropriation of Funds

Jeffrey Hubbard, 53, superintendent of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, has been charged with two counts of misappropriation of public funds during his time as superintendent of the Beverly Hills Unified School District, City News Service reported.

Also charged with misappropriation of public funds is Karen Anne Christiansen, 52, former facilities director for Beverly Hills Unified. Christiansen faces five counts of conflict of interest as well.

Hubbard, who lives in Newport Beach, is accused of giving Christiansen increases in her car allowance that were unauthorized by the school board while he was superintendent of the Beverly Hills Unified before coming to Newport-Mesa Unified in 2006, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

"Since this matter is alleged to have occurred in another district, I am going to reserve judgment on making any further statements or taking any action until the board has had the opportunity to review the matter," Newport-Mesa Unified school board President Karen Yelsey said in a statement.

Felony arrest warrants have been issued for both Christiansen and Hubbard, with the district attorney seeking $2 million in bail for Christiansen and $50,000 for Hubbard, according to the Beverly Hills Courier.

"The Beverly Hills Unified School District and its board are gratified by the decision of L.A. County District Attorney Steve Cooley and his office's Public Integrity Section to file felony criminal charges against former BHUSD employee Karen Christiansen and former Superintendent Jeffrey Hubbard," the BHUSD said in a statement.

A call to Hubbard for comment was not immediately returned. But he spoke to the Los Angeles Times on Thursday and denied the charges.

"It's absolutely not true," Hubbard told the paper. "It's an injustice. This is my career. It's just not right. I don't know how I could have anything to do with it."

Christiansen was hired by the school district in 2004 at an annual salary of $113,000 but allegedly secretly negotiated a contract to be an independent contractor while performing the same duties, according to prosecutors.   

She was paid a total of $5.2 million by the school district between 2006 and 2009, officials said.

Christiansen also is accused of negotiating contracts with an energy firm to do work for the district while simultaneously negotiating contracts between her company, Strategic Concepts, LLC, and the energy firm, according to the district attorney's office.

City News Service and Beverly Hills Patch contributed to this report.