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Former Poway unified superintendent facing felony charges

Posted at 5:58 PM, Aug 08, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-08 20:59:20-04

San Diego (KGTV) - The former head of the Poway Unified School District is facing five felony charges.

Officials charged John Collins with misappropriating and misuse of public money.

The complaint filed last week accuses Collins of misappropriation of public money dealing with vacation time and sick leave. It also alleges misuse of a “p-card” and filing a false instrument.

Poway Unified fired Collins last year after a scathing audit had alleged he received more than $300,000 in overpayments and unauthorized payments.

The audit also claims there were an additional $24,000 in other transactions that violated district policy and some questionable purchases for airline tickets, dinners and hotel fees.

Collins attorney did not respond to 10News request for a comment, but in the past, Collins denied engaging in conduct that was dishonest.

A spokesperson for the San Diego County District Attorney’s office wouldn’t talk about the case but did say if convicted on all charges Collins could face more than seven years behind bars.

A spokesperson for the school district said they aren’t able to comment at this time.