The text messages are damning — literally laughing about breaking the law while stealing millions from a public school district. LA County DA Nathan Hochman has the receipts, and they're brutal.
Charges: Peng faces 2 felonies (money laundering + financial interest in official contracts). Sampath faces 4 felonies (same charges plus aiding/abetting). Both face up to 7 years in state prison if convicted. This comes as LAUSD is already reeling from an FBI raid that ousted the superintendent last month.
When Sampath asked "What r the other opportunities in LAUSD. That we can exploit," Peng responded: "Yea, a lot of them." Meanwhile, she signed contract integrity forms claiming she'd received NO gifts or gratuities from LAUSD contractors. That's perjury on top of fraud.
The duo bragged about "low hanging fruits" and discussed how to inflate billing: "I have a way to get those money. Can load them up more work, then charge more hours." Peng even offered to set up companies in Hong Kong, China, or Singapore to obscure the trail.
Sampath then routed $3M+ back to Peng through intermediaries. The texts show they knew exactly what they were doing — Sampath: "Delete all watsup chats… if anyone sees the text about these internal things it will be a prb." They discussed setting up 3-4 shell companies to "take out the money."
The scheme: Peng sat on the selection committee and steered $22M+ in contracts (2018-2022) to Gautham Sampath's Texas tech firm Innive. His company ultimately received $39M total from LAUSD between 2017-2023. She literally texted him: "Youre' so lucky Im on the selection committee."
LAUSD IT staffer Hong "Grace" Peng texted her co-conspirator: "I broke all law for you already lol" — and prosecutors say she did exactly that, funneling $39M in contracts to his company while pocketing $3M+ in kickbacks through laundered payments.
7/7 🧵
The text messages are damning — literally laughing about breaking the law while stealing millions from a public school district. LA County DA Nathan Hochman has the receipts, and they're brutal.
📎 Source
📎 Source
#threadstorm
6/7 🧵
Charges: Peng faces 2 felonies (money laundering + financial interest in official contracts). Sampath faces 4 felonies (same charges plus aiding/abetting). Both face up to 7 years in state prison if convicted. This comes as LAUSD is already reeling from an FBI raid that ousted the superintendent last month.
5/7 🧵
When Sampath asked "What r the other opportunities in LAUSD. That we can exploit," Peng responded: "Yea, a lot of them." Meanwhile, she signed contract integrity forms claiming she'd received NO gifts or gratuities from LAUSD contractors. That's perjury on top of fraud.
4/7 🧵
The duo bragged about "low hanging fruits" and discussed how to inflate billing: "I have a way to get those money. Can load them up more work, then charge more hours." Peng even offered to set up companies in Hong Kong, China, or Singapore to obscure the trail.
3/7 🧵
Sampath then routed $3M+ back to Peng through intermediaries. The texts show they knew exactly what they were doing — Sampath: "Delete all watsup chats… if anyone sees the text about these internal things it will be a prb." They discussed setting up 3-4 shell companies to "take out the money."
2/7 🧵
The scheme: Peng sat on the selection committee and steered $22M+ in contracts (2018-2022) to Gautham Sampath's Texas tech firm Innive. His company ultimately received $39M total from LAUSD between 2017-2023. She literally texted him: "Youre' so lucky Im on the selection committee."
1/7 🧵
LAUSD IT staffer Hong "Grace" Peng texted her co-conspirator: "I broke all law for you already lol" — and prosecutors say she did exactly that, funneling $39M in contracts to his company while pocketing $3M+ in kickbacks through laundered payments.