Details of $22M kickback scheme at troubled LAUSD revealed in court
By David Thompson
Published April 3, 2026, 3:08 p.m. ET
Former LAUSD staffer pleads not guilty in multi-million dollar money laundering case
An alleged fraudster within the Los Angeles Unified School District appeared in a downtown court on Friday charged with taking part in a huge money laundering scam.
Hong “Grace” Peng, 53 — who worked as a technical project manager for LAUSD — pled not guilty to facilitating an alleged eye-popping $22 million kickback scheme.
The case comes as the scandal-plagued school district reels from fraud claims against Superintendent Alberto Carvalho.
Hong Grace Peng in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Disgraced Hong “Grace” Peng, 53, — who worked as a technical project manager for LAUSD — pled not guilty
Peng, of Pasadena, was dressed in a blue pin-striped jacked, blue collared shirt and with her dark hair tied back in a ponytail. She stood before Judge Theresa McGonigle in Dept. 30 after a $500,000 warrant was issued for her to appear.
https://nypost.com/2026/04/03/us-news/disgraced-lausd-employee-grace-peng-emotionless-in-court/