FBI, U.S. Attorney conclude investigation into FUSD’s lease-leaseback contracts

An investigation into lease-leaseback contracts at Fresno Unified has concluded with no criminal charges.

The district announced Friday that the U.S. Attorney’s Office had completed the investigation nearly four years after it first began with a federal grand jury subpoena.

Fresno Unified attorney Carl Faller said the district had turned over tens of thousands of documents in the course of the investigation into its no-bid contracts.

“This is a good result for the district,” Faller said.

Contractor Stephen Davis first alleged in a lawsuit that the district had improperly used a lease-leaseback agreement to grant a multimillion-dollar construction project to Harris Construction. Faller said that the conclusion of the investigation ultimately has no impact on lawsuits filed.

Davis’ lawsuit is ongoing, scheduled for jury trial in July.

This story was originally published April 5, 2019 at 4:35 PM with the headline "FBI, U.S. Attorney conclude investigation into FUSD’s lease-leaseback contracts."