WEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Former Miami-Dade School Board member Lubby Navarro appeared in court for a bond hearing review after being arrested on public corruption charges, after, police said, she swindled the school district out of more than $100,000.
Navarro was facing a $2 million bond, which was lowered to $100,000 on Friday.
“The clerk will grant the motion to modify. The total bond will be $100,000,” said Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Carlos Lopez.
During Navarro’s virtual court appearance for her bond review hearing, her lawyer told Lopez that she has strong ties to the county.
“That the purpose of bond is to make sure that somebody, especially community servants like Lubby Navarro, is here to defend the case, and he found that the conditions were right to set a bond that we had hoped would have been set yesterday,” Navarro’s attorney said.
The state was quick to question Navarro’s bond modification.
“I’m concerned for risk of flight, and the reason I was detailing all of this wealth, is because she has the means to flee,” said Assistant State Attorney Annette Rasco. “She travels frequently, she has money that’s been saved up where she can flee. There’s a higher risk of flight when you’re paying your bond with stolen money, money that’s not yours. It’s worth less to a person than money that was legitimately earned.”
Navarro remains behind bars as of Friday night due to complications with her ankle monitor. Officials said her ankle monitor may need to be fitted to her ankle at another location.
But it was all money on the mind for Navarro. The $100,000 question is how Navarro was able to use the district money over the course of a year without anyone noticing.
“Every dollar stolen and spent by Miss Navarro is $1 taken from our school system, and therefore stolen from our children,” said Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.
A state attorney and inspector general’s joint investigation led up to Navarro’s Thursday morning arrest.
According to the state attorney, Navarro used more than $100,000 of district money for her own personal use.
“It went for air travel, it went for hotels, meals, car rentals and entertainment for herself, her friends and her family members,” said Fernandez Rundle.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools issues each of its nine school board members a “P-Card” to purchase small items. Those items don’t usually amount to $92,047.92 over the course of a year.
Charges provided by Rundle showed around $42,000 were put onto gift cards.
“You’ll see the next graphic up there is a photograph of Navarro at Walmart,” Rundle said,
The “P-Card” was used for personal shopping to places like BrandsMart USA, Home Depot, Amazon and T-Mobile.
Aside from buying several high-end items like a $1,300 two-door refrigerator, a couch and a convection oven, according to the affidavit, Navarro also used her “P-card” to buy Apple AirTags.
The State Attorney’s Office said she ended up taping two of those AirTags under her ex-boyfriend’s car. He found one under the passenger wheel and another on the front of his grill when he noticed his phone would beep every time he went to his car.
Board members are also issued a travel card, which investigators said Navarro used to spend a little over $9,000 on vacations.
Rundle said that she treated her mother to a trip to the Dominican Republic and her boyfriend at the time to a vacation in Las Vegas. Navarro also paid for a full trip to Walt Disney World for her boyfriend and his family.
In addition to her bond being modified, the judge decided that Navarro had to surrender her passport. She has also been placed on Level 1 house arrest and must also provide a source of funds for her bond, which her attorney said is the house that she’s owned for a long time.
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