Ex-Corona-Norco assistant superintendent Rozzi, construction chief charged with money laundering

A former Corona-Norco school district assistant superintendent and the president of an Ontario construction firm that specializes in building schools have been charged with more than two dozen felonies related to the theft of more than $1 million, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday, Nov. 7.

Ted Eugene Rozzi, 60, of Redlands, worked for the school district for 27 years, most recently as assistant superintendent for facilities. Edward Curtis Mierau, 65, of Ladera Ranch, heads Neff Construction. They were charged Tuesday with 15 counts of money laundering.

Both also were charged with one count each of embezzlement by a public officer, misappropriation of public funds and making a false entry on a document. Rozzi was charged with 12 counts of being a public official with a financial interest in a contract; Mierau was charged with nine counts of helping Rozzi violate that law.

Rozzi surrendered Thursday at Riverside Superior Court.  He is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 20. Mierau was making arrangements to surrender, a District Attorney’s Office news release said.

Rozzi’s attorney, Eric Anderson, said in an interview Thursday that he has yet to review the evidence.

“I am opposed to trying cases in the press. Court is where we do that. Mr. Rozzi has been a dedicated public servant for several decades and is entitled to go through the proper legal process,” Anderson said.

Neff Construction attorney Rod Pacheco said in an interview Thursday that Mierau is innocent and had no knowledge of the crimes described by the District Attorney’s Office. Pacheco will represent Mierau in the criminal case.

Although the DA recommended bail be set at $1.17 million for each — based on the amount the DA believes was stolen — Rozzi was released on his own recognizance Thursday. The  $1.17 million reflects the sum prosecutors believe was stolen.

The DA asked a judge Tuesday to freeze Rozzi’s bank accounts. Pacheco said some of Mierau’s assets, including two homes, have been frozen.

From 1992 to 2017, Rozzi supervised construction for the district. During the investigation, which began in May 2017 after an employee reported a suspicious transaction between Rozzi and Neff, search warrants were served and it was determined that there were transactions between Rozzi and Mierau in which Rozzi asked for checks to be written from Neff Construction to various financial institutions and not the school district, the release said. Investigators determined that more than $1.1 million was stolen between December 2011 and May 2017.

The investigation revealed that money that was intended for school projects was funneled through Neff Construction and wound up in Rozzi’s personal bank accounts, the release said.

Pacheco, a former Riverside County district attorney, said it is common for school districts to ask construction contractors to pay vendors for items such as landscaping or portable classrooms and then reimburse the contractors. Neff often sends the checks directly to vendors’ bank accounts. In this case, Pacheco said, some of Neff’s reimbursement checks went into Rozzi’s bank accounts, unbeknownst to Neff and Mierau.

Pacheco said Neff willingly turned over 60,000 pages of documents to the District Attorney’s Office for the investigation.

“For the life of me, I cannot understand how they filed charges against Mr. Mierau,” Pacheco said. “Mr. Mierau isn’t not guilty, he is innocent. It’s not close. They have no evidence that Mr. Mierau committed a crime. What they have is that Mr. Rozzi committed a crime and that Mr. Mierau, there’s an assumption. What is the evidence that Mr. Mireau knowingly participated in this fraudulent scheme? There is none. Not one text, not one email, not one confession.”

The DA’s office declined to describe the evidence in the case.

Pacheco noted that other construction firms did business with Rozzi; the DA’s office would not address whether other such companies were under investigation.

Even as, authorities say, Rozzi was stealing money, he received in 2017 the Classified Leader of the Year Award from the Association of California School Administrators board of directors. The criteria for the award include association members “who show strong support for the school management team; exceptional leadership in managing school programs; commitment to educational quality and student achievement; commitment to professional growth; and creativity and innovation in dealing with issues and problems facing public education.”

A school district news release Thursday said two district employees reported their suspicions in 2017. Rozzi was placed on administrative leave Aug. 11 of that year and resigned Aug. 14. The district said it provided law enforcement with records for the investigation.

“We are angry and disappointed that an executive-level administrator in our district would abuse his position of trust to manipulate our facilities accounts for his own financial gain,” Corona-Norco Superintendent Michael Lin said in the DA’s news release. “It has since been revealed Rozzi worked in a deliberate and deceitful manner to avoid detection.”

Since Rozzi’s resignation, the district said, it has restructured departments to add more layers of accountability.

The Neff website says the company has built schools in Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange and Los Angeles counties.

“With an unwavering dedication to integrity and team building, Neff Construction has established and maintains solid, long-term relationships with school districts, designers, trade contractors, state agencies and other stakeholders,” the website says.

This is the second case in 2019 alleging embezzlement from a school district account. In June, former district board member William Clarence Newberry was charged with grand theft, embezzlement of public funds and misappropriation of public funds. Newberry had been president of the Riverside County School Boards Association and president of Eleanor Roosevelt High’s Climate Booster Club. Newberry is accused of stealing $23,000 from that club and $40,000 in all. Newberry, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, is due in court Dec. 3 for a status conference.