Columbus – Three Carrollton Exempted Village Schools officials have been indicted for their involvement in a scheme to sell air purifiers to the District using two shell companies, Auditor of State Keith Faber announced Friday.

Superintendent David Quattrochi, school board member Michael Pozderac, and teacher Mary “Jackie” Pozderac, along with a fourth individual, Gus Nickolas, are facing felony counts of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, money laundering, theft in office, grand theft, having an unlawful interest in a public contract, and telecommunications fraud.

Quattrochi and the Pozderacs also face additional counts of prohibited representation by a present official and accepting unlawful compensation, and Nickolas faces an additional count of receiving stolen property, under an indictment handed down in Carroll County Common Pleas Court.

The Auditor of State’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) began investigating the District after learning that a vendor’s address listed on a purchase order was the same as a school board member.

The Pozderacs, Quattrochi and Nickolas are alleged to have used two shell companies, The Phoenix Rising and Pozitively Quality Air, to sell air purifiers totaling $70,450 to the school district. The four then divided about $47,000 in resulting profits among themselves while attempting to hide their involvement from the District.

Due to a potential conflict of interest, the Carroll County Prosecutor’s Office has appointed SIU to serve as special prosecutors in the case.

Since 2019, the Special Investigations Unit has assisted in 95 convictions resulting in more than $4.9 million in restitution (Map of SIU Convictions since January 2019). The team receives hundreds of tips of suspected fraud annually. Tips can be submitted anonymously online or via SIU’s fraud hotline at 1-866-FRAUD-OH (1-866-372-8364).

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The Auditor of State’s office, one of five independently elected statewide offices in Ohio is responsible for auditing more than 6,000 state and local government agencies. Under the direction of Auditor Keith Faber, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies, and promotes transparency in government. 

Public Affairs
Contact: Marc Kovac
press@ohioauditor.gov