MPS Loses $450,000 in Fraud Scheme, Announces CFO Change

Milwaukee Public Schools Administration Building. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Milwaukee Public Schools was the victim of a financial fraud scheme that resulted in the loss of about $450,000, and the district has installed a new acting chief financial officer as an investigation gets underway.

The district announced Tuesday that it had discovered the fraud Monday and had recovered $255,000 of the missing money. It is working to recover the remaining $195,000.

The announcement also revealed that Deputy Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Buros would serve as acting CFO, apparently replacing Aycha Sawa, the former City of Milwaukee comptroller who was hired in September 2024 to help stabilize the financially troubled school district.

MPS declined comment on any personnel matters, but confirmed Sawa is currently employed by the district.

“Yesterday, we became aware that the district was the victim of bank impersonation fraud perpetrated by an outside party,” the district said in a message to staff and families.

The district said it notified the FBI, Wisconsin Statewide Intelligence Center and Milwaukee Police Department. U.S. Bank, the district’s banking partner, has already recovered more than half of the missing funds.

MPS did not disclose how the fraud was perpetrated, when the money was transferred or how the scheme was discovered.

“This is a sobering reminder of the sophisticated financial scams that occur every day across the country. We are taking swift and immediate action to strengthen our internal procedures to prevent this from happening. We also are working with our partners at U.S. Bank to recover the remainder of the funds. We are grateful to our partners in federal, state, and local law enforcement for their work to investigate this matter and to hold those responsible accountable,” said Superintendent Brenda Cassellius in a statement.

The district said it is conducting its own internal investigation and implementing short- and long-term financial controls in partnership with its Office of Accountability and Efficiency.

“We will remain vigilant and work to collect every dollar of the funds,” the message said.

Buros joined MPS over the summer as deputy CFO. She previously worked for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, joining the state agency in 2023 after more than 24 years as a school district business manager.

The incident comes as MPS continues to recover from a series of financial management problems that led to a leadership shakeup in 2024.

Former Superintendent Keith P. Posley resigned in June 2024 after the state threatened to withhold funding because the district was months behind on required financial reporting. The federal government also withheld funding over violations involving the district’s Head Start program.

Sawa was hired that September as part of a new financial leadership team. She previously served as Milwaukee’s independently elected comptroller, a position she left in April 2024.

In an interview with Urban Milwaukee shortly after her hiring, Sawa emphasized her role as a financial watchdog.

“My role in the city was as the independent watchdog; to look out for the finances of the city. I was accountable to the taxpayers,” she said. “I see myself in the same role.”

The district subsequently hired Cassellius as superintendent in early 2025.

The fraud also bears similarities to a scheme that targeted the City of Milwaukee in 2025.

In that incident, scammers impersonated a city contractor, Scherrer Construction, and convinced city officials to redirect a $460,866 payment intended for a Milwaukee Public Library project to a fraudulent bank account.

The scammers used an email address that resembled the contractor’s legitimate address, substituting a “.us” domain for “.com.”

The fraud went undetected until the contractor reported that it had not received payment. City Comptroller Bill Christianson subsequently contacted law enforcement, and investigators were able to freeze the money and recover most or all of the funds.

The city subsequently implemented additional safeguards for changes to vendor banking information and launched an internal review.

It remains unclear whether the MPS fraud involved a similar attempt to redirect a legitimate payment or a different form of bank impersonation.