Coach of California powerhouse high school football program facing embezzlement allegation

Coach of California powerhouse high school football program facing embezzlement allegation

The head football coach of a powerhouse high school football program in California is facing an allegation of embezzlement in a new lawsuit filed on behalf of three people who were fired from the school.

Jason Negro has been the head coach of St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, Calif., since 2010. He has built the Braves into one of the best and most well-known high school football programs in the country, and he allegedly did so while engaging in financial impropriety.

According to the Los Angeles Times, three plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court in which they allege Negro has conducted financial transactions related to the Braves’ football program in cash. The three plaintiffs are former high-ranking school employees who were fired last year following a review by consultants.

The three plaintiffs allege in their lawsuit that they were fired after reporting concerns over the way finances administered by Negro were conducted. They claim they wanted things to be done by the books — with financial records of transactions kept and taxes paid accordingly — and that they were fired over the matter.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the lawsuit alleges that “only cash was accepted as payment for youth camps run by St. John Bosco, that gear given to Negro by Nike was sold for cash and that the proceeds from parking, game programs and raffles at home games were paid in cash to Negro.”

Negro allegedly kept the cash in a safe at his office. Some of that cash was allegedly used to pay the tuition for some athletes under the guise of “anonymous donors.” This would be a potential violation of California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) rules.

Negro also allegedly paid some assistant coaches in cash that was not reported for tax purposes (aka “under the table”), and allegedly used some of the cash to pay for group trips among his coaching staff to places like Palm Springs.

St. John Bosco has a deep athletic history and has produced star players like Nomar Garciaparra and Evan Longoria in baseball, and Josh Rosen and DJ Uiagalelei in football.

In 2013, Bosco went 16-0 under Negro, winning the state championship and finishing as the No. 1-ranked high school program in the country according to Max Preps and USA Today.