Schools
Nearly $450K stolen from Milwaukee Public Schools in bank impersonation fraud
By Katherine Langford
MPS Loses $450,000 in Fraud Scheme, Announces CFO Change
Marcus Chen
Marcus Chen
Managing Editor · St. Paul, MN
Marcus manages the day-to-day editorial workflow across all brands, coordinating coverage assignments and ensuring editorial standards are met. He previously served as city editor at the Pioneer Press and holds a degree in Political Science from Carleton College.
More from Marcus →Managing Editor · Tuesday, November 3, 2026 at 11:41 PM · 1 min read
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 st
Up nextNearly $450K stolen from Milwaukee Public Schools in bank impersonation fraudSchools · 1 min read
