Seekonk Teacher Accused of Receiving Kickbacks from Travel Company

In a case not very dissimilar from the recent Detroit Public School scam:

“Details of the charges show the office worker is accused of receiving kickbacks from special pay she authorized between 2003 and 2005 to a teacher’s aide and truck driver for after-school coaching work that never was performed. All three were charged with embezzlement and false pretenses.”

Attorney General Martha Coakley announces that a former Seekonk school teacher was arraigned in connection with stealing school funds and secretly accepting over $5,000 in gratuities for organizing student trips. Jean Lamoureux, age 44, of Cape Coral, FL, formerly of Rehoboth, MA, was charged with accepting Improper Gratuities (5 counts) and Larceny.

According to authorities, Lamoureux worked as a middle school teacher in Seekonk, MA for 13 years, also serving as a faculty advisor in charge of organizing student trips. Authorities allege that on five separate occasions between 2006 and 2008, Lamoureux improperly accepted commission payments from a travel agency, in violation of the school’s written policy.

Authorities allege that the travel agency paid Lamoureux $25 for each student that signed up for the trips. According to authorities, Lamoureux deposited checks totaling $5,219 in his personal bank account without disclosing the transactions to school administrators.
In addition, authorities allege that Lamoureux committed larceny when he misappropriated a reimbursement check belonging to the school totaling $1,840 from the travel agency. He deposited the school’s check in his personal bank account without notifying school administrators of the transaction. Lamoureux resigned from his teaching position in January 2009.

Lamoureux was arraigned yesterday in Taunton District Court at which time he entered a plea of not guilty and was released on personal recognizance. Lamoureux is scheduled to appear in court on April 8, 2010, for a pre-trial conference. Judge Gregory Phillips presided over the arraignment.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General David Waterfall of Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Corruption and Fraud Division with assistance from the Inspector General’s Office, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and State Police assigned to the Attorney General’s Office.

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