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 st