We have been critical of Grand Haven Area Public School’s handling of the embezzlement case involving former Assistant Superintendent Brian Wheeler. Let us explain why. In our yearlong investigation to determine how Mr. Wheeler's alleged criminal activities went undetected for seven years, we have read through police reports, district e-mails, court case files, and public records. In our view, the documentation seems to indicate that the district will not recover any of the over $1,000,000 in missing funds.
Our investigation began when we sent Superintendent Scott Grimes and school board members an email in February 2022 requesting an update on the embezzlement incident. Mr. Grimes replied that the school district would not be taking any further action until it received the report from the forensic auditor. Despite having had at least a preliminary version of the forensic audit report by early July, for the next nine months, no further action was taken. Instead, the school district hid behind the excuse of a pending legal case.
In August 2022, Grand Haven School Board President Carl Treutler, writing on behalf of the school district and board members in the local newspaper, released an update to the public that unfortunately was lacking in detail. The school district insisted that the forensic report absolved district employees and school board members from responsibility in the embezzlement. The school district seemed to be providing as little information as possible, while at the same time telling the public to trust them. Of the few details that were given, more than one was incorrect. According to the Tribune article, the embezzlement was discovered on November 5th, but court records indicated the embezzlement was discovered on November 4th. The article further stated that probate proceedings had been initiated in Ottawa County to recover lost funds.
Having already done some preliminary review of court case files and public records, we were sure that the school district was litigating the recovery of the stolen funds in Muskegon County, not Ottawa County. These simple discrepancies led us to have doubt in the district’s ability to handle this situation with competence and integrity. Those doubts increased when the district refused to release the results of the forensic audit to the public, and increased again with an embezzlement update on March 11, 2023 from the Tribune. Per the Tribune, “GHAPS Superintendent Scott Grimes said the district has initiated litigation in Ottawa County Probate Court in an attempt to recoup money lost in an embezzlement.” This was at least the second time it was reported that the school district was litigating the recovery of the stolen funds in Ottawa County. What could have been an easily corrected simple mistake was reinforced again.
Our initial review of the court case in Muskegon County Circuit Court revealed that in April 2022, the law firm of Miller Johnson from Grand Rapids had filed documents on behalf of the school district to probate Mr. Wheeler's estate. During the summer of 2022, the school district appointed a personal representative and the process had begun to notify the heirs of Mr. Wheeler that a probate case had opened. The next steps for the personal representative would be to publish a notice to creditors listing Mr. Wheeler assets. We watched, interested to see what the inventory of assets would reveal.
We had conducted our own research on Mr. Wheeler’s assets at the time of his death, as well as any potential outstanding debt he may have owed. We had discovered that Mr. Wheeler had accumulated years and years of debt which he was still paying off at the time of his death. He had outstanding tax liens of hundreds of thousands of dollars. He owned property that was foreclosed in March 2022 for unpaid property taxes. The school district was garnishing his paychecks, leaving him with as little as $400 per pay period. His spending habits revealed he spent more money than he had, and he often failed to pay his creditors for loans. At the time of his death, Mr. Wheeler owned very few assets. The picture was bleak, but we thought that the school district may have information that painted a rosier picture of Mr. Wheeler’s financial situation. Maybe the school district had a lead on where some of the stolen funds had gone? We were hopeful.
In November 2022, seven months after the probate case was opened, an inventory of Mr. Wheeler’s assets was filed with the court. It indicated the personal representative was still investigating the whereabouts of Mr. Wheeler’s assets. As of March 9, 2023, there have been no additional filings to report an inventory of Mr. Wheeler’s assets. This leaves us to assume that no assets have been found. It has been almost a year since the probate case was opened and the likelihood of the school district recovering any funds from Mr. Wheeler’s estate appears slim. We are waiting for the school district to respond to our FOIA request for the attorney’s bills so we may determine how much money the school district has spent going down this rabbit hole.
It looks like the school district put all their financial recovery eggs in one basket. To date, there are no pending lawsuits in Ottawa County, Muskegon County, or Federal court beside the probate case. In their haste to move on as quickly as possible from the embezzlement scandal, it seems a thorough investigation that could have helped in the recovery of the stolen funds was lacking. Since no other individuals have been charged, it is unlikely the district has additional avenues to explore for recovering lost funds. The district has been silent about the recovery efforts since the start of the school year, except for the update article published March 11, 2023. That article quoted Mr. Grimes repeating the same misinformation on the location of the probate case, while stating almost word-for-word the same detail-lacking update from last August. We will continue to monitor the courts and provide the public with information as it becomes available.