Cambridge School Committee Knew About Superintendent Candidate's $750K Crypto Scam Loss - And Kept It Secret

Cambridge School Committee's Crypto Scandal Cover-Up

On Monday evening, the Boston Globe broke shocking news that a finalist for Cambridge's superintendent position lost more than $750,000 in a cryptocurrency scam.

What The Committee Knew - And When

That revelation came as no surprise to the Cambridge School Committee. According to a district official familiar with the matter, the School Committee knew the details of Lourenço Garcia's financial mismanagement earlier this summer. Despite this knowledge, members declined to publicly take action on the information - or disclose it to Cambridge residents.

The $751,000 Crypto Scam Details

Garcia invested a total of $751,000 into a cryptocurrency platform in late 2021 and early 2022 before his money vanished. Months later, the candidate sued his bank for allowing him to make the payment to the platform after losing his money, alleging the bank did not take sufficient steps to prevent fraud.

A Massachusetts court denied his lawsuit. Garcia unsuccessfully appealed the decision, and a ruling on the appeal, available online, lays out details from the case.

Additional Controversial History Emerges

The cryptocurrency scam is not the only incident resurfacing for Garcia. The Globe also reported he was accused of domestic violence in 2013 following a divorce proceeding with his ex-wife.

2013 court documents allege that Garcia "was cruel & abusive to the plaintiff by striking her in the face & struggling w/her causing serious bodily injury." A later filing further alleged that Garcia often yelled at her and physically abused her on several occasions.

Garcia denied the allegations in court filings.

Committee's Deliberate Silence

While School Committee members were made aware of both the scam and the domestic abuse allegations earlier this summer, the group has yet to take public action based on the allegations.

According to the same district official, the School Committee decided to refrain from public comment based on informal advice from a city attorney. The official said members were advised to refrain from commenting publicly on the private lives of candidates, since it could leave the body vulnerable to a lawsuit.

Growing Controversy in Superintendent Search

Garcia, the assistant superintendent of equity and inclusion for Revere Public Schools, has had to answer for the incident during the search process. School Committee member Elizabeth C.P. Hudson told the Globe that she spoke with Garcia about the incident, adding that she was concerned that he may not be a good fit for the superintendent position.

Garcia is not the only candidate who has been harshly scrutinized in the search process. Adam Taylor, a former superintendent of Rutland Public Schools in Vermont, was a semifinalist for the position. His candidacy caused major backlash in the city due to controversial remarks he made in 2019, comparing teachers' practices of building relationships with their students to pimps or pedophiles.

Complaints about the search process boiled over in August, after the Cambridge Education Association - the union representing Cambridge Public Schools faculty and staff - called for the district to restart the search entirely.

Garcia is set to appear in front of the School Committee and Cambridge residents on Tuesday afternoon for final interviews for the superintendent position.