He even kept cash in the refrigerator: an official appropriated $16.7 million (3 photos)
Instead of using the money to benefit schools, Jorge Armando Contreras spent it on a lavish lifestyle, buying designer Louis Vuitton bags, a luxury car, and a house. 
Jorge Armando Contreras, 53, from the United States stole $16.7 million by hiding the cash in a mini-fridge. The man worked in the education sector.
Authorities seized $7.7 million in property, including a home in Yorba Linda, California, a 2021 BMW, 57 luxury designer handbags, jewelry, and high-end tequila.
A former California public school official was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday, July 25, after officials discovered he had embezzled nearly $16.7 million. The man hid the cash in a small refrigerator.
Jorge Armando Contreras, formerly the senior director of fiscal services for the Magnolia School District, which serves Anaheim and Stanton, was arraigned in Santa Ana. He was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison and ordered to forfeit $16,694,942.
In March, the man pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement, theft and willful misuse of funds from an organization receiving federal funds. 
Prosecutors said Contreras was hired in 2006 to oversee the financial operations of the district, where 81 percent of students in preschool through sixth grade are economically disadvantaged. Instead of using the money entrusted to him to benefit the schools, he spent it on a lavish lifestyle, buying designer Louis Vuitton bags, a luxury car and using the money to buy a home.
In his position, he had access to the district's bank accounts and the bank account of a student organization. He spent the entire day making payments to his personal bank account. Prosecutors allege he defrauded the county of a total of $16,694,942.
Authorities seized approximately $7.7 million in personal and real property recovered from his fraud, including a home in Yorba Linda, a 2021 BMW, 57 luxury designer handbags — most of them Louis Vuitton — jewelry, designer clothing and shoes, and eight bottles of Clase Azul Ultra tequila. 
