School BUSTED In Embezzlement Scandal

Group of friends eating lunch at a cafeteria table — Photo: Pixel-Shot / Shutterstock

A monster Costco buy of eggs, bacon, and potatoes set off a $300,000 school fraud probe.

Story Snapshot

Police tied a large Costco breakfast order to alleged theft at a Monterey charter school.
Former food services director Terry Bumper faces a felony embezzlement charge and pleaded not guilty.
Former chief financial officer Rosa Segura was arrested on suspicion of embezzlement in a separate track.
Investigators say the two alleged schemes do not appear connected.

Police say a breakfast order cracked open two separate schemes

Seaside Police say school leaders flagged an “excessive” Costco purchase for a breakfast event. That single receipt pushed investigators to dig into food buying and card use at the International School of Monterey, a public charter school. The review produced two tracks. One focused on food buys linked to a private catering venture. The other focused on travel, dining, and personal spending on school funds. Police say the cases are separate, not a joint plot.

Detectives arrested former food services director Terry Bumper, 42, on September 24, 2026. Prosecutors later filed one felony embezzlement count. Police allege Bumper used about $58,800 in school money to buy food for his private catering business. Officers say the unusual Costco breakfast order of eggs, bacon, and potatoes triggered the review. Bumper posted bond and entered a not-guilty plea. The case moved into court with a formal charge on October 20, 2026.

What police allege against the former chief financial officer

Detectives arrested former chief financial officer Rosa Segura on October 22, 2026, on suspicion of felony embezzlement. Police allege about $238,000 in school funds went to personal spending, including trips, restaurants, spa and salon visits, and online shopping. Some coverage cites claims of forged signatures on school checks. As of late October reporting, prosecutors had not yet filed a formal charge in her case. The investigation was described as ongoing.

The totals are presented by police as two buckets: roughly $58,800 attributed to Bumper and about $238,000 attributed to Segura. Together they round to $296,800. Outlets often shorten this to “$300,000,” but the key point is the split: different people, different alleged methods, and different stages in the legal process. Police emphasized they found no evidence the two acted together or shared a plan.

How a receipt becomes a road map

Fraud inside schools often shows up the same way this case did: an odd bill that breaks a pattern. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners says tips and anomalies most often expose workplace fraud, not routine audits. The group’s global review reports a median loss of $104,000 and shows how early detection limits damage. A single weird transaction can guide auditors to vendors, dates, and sign-offs that tell the rest of the story.

Education cases also track a well-known playbook. Access plus weak oversight equals risk. One person controls ordering, receiving, and reconciling. Another holds the corporate card and approval path. A busy office treats “exceptions” as favors, not red flags. Once a school sets firm controls—segregated duties, real-time card alerts, and vendor cross-checks—losses drop and detection speeds up. None of those fixes need a new law. They need clear rules and someone to enforce them.

Accountability, due process, and common-sense controls

Prosecutors put the Bumper case on a formal footing with a filed charge. Police say Segura’s case remains at the arrest stage. That split matters. Allegations belong in the sunlight, and so does due process. Schools hold a public trust, and that demands tight controls and swift discipline when rules break. But it also demands careful case work that stands up in court and avoids smearing people without proof beyond headlines.

Exorbitant egg order at Monterey school cracks open 'disgusting' embezzlement scheme, police say https://t.co/LeEdnHjYRI

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) October 31, 2026

Parents want straight answers and strong fences around every dollar. Start with three moves: require two approvals for any food or travel spend; publish monthly card statements to the school board; and audit vendor deliveries against menus and rosters. These steps are cheap, quick, and hard to game. If a breakfast order is big enough to feed an army, the system should ask why before the bacon hits the pan. That is common sense and good stewardship.