Jun.15, 2010

Los Angeles prosecutors have accused the Russian operators of a successful San Fernando Valley charter school with stealing more than $200,000 in taxpayer funds.

On Thursday, Ivy Academia's Eugene Selivanov, 38, and his wife, Tatyana Berkovich, 33, were charged with committing multiple counts of embezzlement, money laundering and filing false tax returns at the school from 2004 to 2009.

Ivy Academia serves roughly 1,100 students from preschool to 12th grade. The charter was started in 2004 by Berkovich and Selivanov.

The investigation by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office was triggered by the findings of a 2007 audit by LA Unified School District's Office of the Inspector General.

That audit found numerous instances where Selivanov transferred public funds from the charter to private businesses he and Berkovich controlled. The transactions were allegedly done online and were never recorded in the school's financial records.

Prior to the audit, former teachers and parents accused school officials of falsifying attendance statistics in order to pump more state funds into their coffers.

Both Selivanov and Berkovich admitted to mixing money from the private and public accounts but denied misusing the funds, according to the Los Angeles Times.

If convicted on all charges, Selivanov's maximum sentence would be 14 years and two months in state prison, according to the district attorney's office. His wife faces a maximum nine-year sentence.

Janet Levine, the attorney for Selivanov and Berkovich, insisted upon the couple's innocence in a statement:

Eugene (Selivanov) and Tatyana (Berkovich) are educators and innovators, not criminals, and are confident that any fair and complete review of the facts will show that they acted honorably, ethically and legally in administering Ivy.

The corruption probe surfaced last year when investigators issued search warrants at Ivy Academia's campuses in Woodland Hills, West Hills, Winnetka and Chatsworth, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.

For more information, see the 45-page audit below that authorities say tipped them off to problems at the charter.