Michelle Obama School Lunch Ally Hit With Embezzlement Charges

Last Tuesday, the 55-year old Binkle appeared in court to plead not guilty to 15 felony counts, including embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds. He posted $220,000 bail and will appear in court again in October.   If convicted, he faces up to 13 years in prison.

The former chef won wide praise from Mrs. Obama and others for adopting meals that reduced the sodium and fat content of meals for Los Angeles public school students.

According to court documents, Binkle repeatedly misappropriated district funds in amounts ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 between 2010 and 2014. Prosecutors also allege that he forged an application to become a vendor with the district and failed to disclose outside financial interests.”

The school district serves nearly 700,000 meals daily. While Binkle was overseeing the operation, prosecutors allege he illegally funneled about $65,000 into a private consulting firm he ran, and pocketed some of that money for himself.

Binkle has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and claims the allegations of financial misconduct are unsubstantiated. The school district suspended from his duties while the allegations were being investigated before he was formally charged.

While recognizing that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, the charges against Mr. Binkle are extremely upsetting as they do not reflect the professionalism, ethics and character we expect of all L.A. Unified employees,” the school district said in a statement.

Part of Binkle initiatives at the district involved getting food vendors to commit to long-term contracts and contribute to a $500,000 annual marketing program to encourage students to embrace healthy eating habits.

That’s when it appears trouble began. George Beck, a colleague responsible for accounting and budgets, began questioning how Binkle managed the marketing program as early as 2011.

The district took no action at that time, and Beck claims he was laid off two years later in retaliation for bringing problems to light. But the district’s office of inspector general finally conducted an audit.

A November 2014, report from the IG accused Binkle of failing to disclose his ownership of California Culinary Consulting, an outside culinary consulting firm, and not reporting payments from vendors to attend school nutrition conferences.

The audit noted, “at minimum an appearance of a conflict of interest.” It asserted the marketing program was “being mismanaged and at worst being consistently abused” by Binkle.

Despite the criminal charges, school nutrition advocates continue to stand by Binkle and his efforts to institute reforms in the Los Angeles school meal program.

The changes he made have been done in other public school districts across the country, much to the dismay of students who find some of the meals unappealing and distasteful.

The Michelle Obama initiative, of course, did not extend to private schools like the exclusive one attended by her daughters in Washington D.C.

As usual, what’s good for everyday Americans will never be foisted upon the elites and their children.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Image: Signalscv