Teachers Union Former Boss: I Didn’t Steal
BY BUDDY NEVINS
There is another stain on the reputation of the Broward Teachers Union.
The disgraced former head of the BTU already facing state charge he stole thousands of dollars from the union is now facing similar charges in federal court.
Pat Santeramo
Pat Santeramo has put together a four-lawyer team to defend him. He denies the charges.
Santeramo ran the BTU from 2001 to 2011. He stepped down after news that he was being investigated by the state surfaced.
The state charged that Santeramo channeled roughly $165,000 in union money to himself and received kickbacks from a construction company doing work on union HQ.
The former BTU boss is awaiting trial on the state charges.
Now the Feds alleged that Santeramo syphoned over $35,000 from the school system’s accountability program to the union over five years. The money then allegedly ended up in the pockets of Santeramo and at least one other employee.
Below is the news release from Santeramo’s legal team:
STATEMENT OF PAT SANTERAMO
For release:
SANTERAMO INNOCENT OF FEDERAL ALLEGATIONS;
ACTED RESPONSIBLY IN LEADING BROWARD TEACHERS
Responding to federal allegations that Patrick Santeramo committed fraud in his handling of Accountability Funds through a contractual arrangement between the Broward Teachers Union and the Broward County School Board, Pat Santeramo declared his absolute innocence. According to a statement issued by his Legal Team (Ben Kuehne, Larry Davis, Michael T. Davis, and Shana Korda), the Accountability Fund was a partnership between the Broward Teachers Union and the School Board to enhance the ability of schoolteachers to implement programs for the benefit of students and public education.
At all times, the BTU books and records for the Accountability Fund were open and available to the School Board, the program achievements were regularly reported to the School Board, the funding mechanism was reviewed by the BTU auditors and leadership, and the program itself served as a model for the State of Florida.
Pat Santeramo intends to fight these charges, just as he is fighting for vindication against baseless allegations of financial misconduct lodged by the State of Florida.
For more information, contact:
Ben Kuehne (305.789.5989)
Larry Davis (954.927.4249)
___
Benedict P. Kuehne
Law Office of Benedict P. Kuehne, P.A.
100 S.E. 2d Street, Suite 3550
Miami, FL 33131-2154
305.789.5989 x7 Tel
305.789.5987 Fax
August 10th, 2015 at 12:58 pm
Didn’t the School Board audit the money? Where is the School Board s explanation of this additional mess on their doorstep?
August 10th, 2015 at 2:53 pm
The BTU does nothing for teachers. They are powerless and negotiate more worthless contracts than I care to remember and I refuse to pay for their executives like Santeramo and Gentile.
August 10th, 2015 at 3:15 pm
Wow Atty. Larry Davis, Atty.Ben Kuehne etc. You might think he killed somebody. Bigger story here is who is paying for his atty’. Also worthy etc. what is taking so long. He was pinched what in 2011?.
August 10th, 2015 at 4:54 pm
Didn’t his mama ever tell him, “What goes around, comes around?”
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-07-29/news/fl-pat-santeramo-fall-20120727_1_pat-santeramo-broward-teachers-union-union-boss
August 10th, 2015 at 5:45 pm
The District has no control over the union’s funds. The District has enough trouble with the funds it’s supposed to have control over. They can’t even keep that straight.
August 10th, 2015 at 8:33 pm
The union is in bed with the school district. Negotiations are a joke. The union works on the side of the school system bureaucracy instead of its members. Political contributions and endorsements follow the Democratic party line which often includes the least competent least honest people. Santeramo is only a symptom of the problems with BTU.
August 10th, 2015 at 11:08 pm
The article. States some of the stolen money came from the School Board Accountability Fund whose books are open to the School Board Miss Greenberg. Doesn’t that mean this is a mess at THEIR doorstep? Or am I missing something or the article has an error?
August 12th, 2015 at 10:53 am
L.F. etc., this probably wouldn’t be something that the OCA would have on its yearly plan.
I suspect the State AG might have found it, or a whistleblower might have reported it.
August 12th, 2015 at 3:07 pm
This has been my whole point since 1984, when public moneys are proposed to be spent there should be peer review of proposals and public monitoring outside of the elected n paid public sector.
Since the 1990s all over the US local funds are spent with public oversight n too many times leads to scandals like this one.
How many non profits in South Florida ever get peer reviewed? Disclose what they spend money on and WHY?
How many times do we see this event or group subsidized by Broward County like Miami Dade out of tourist development dollars that is just a vanity or ego or political payof?
The AG or a whistle blower should
not be our first line of defense to corruption it should be public disclosure n view