The former head of the Maryland Parent Teacher Association allegedly spent nearly $1million of taxpayers’ cash on luxury items and a voodoo sex spell to get her boyfriend to leave his lover.
LaTonja Carrera, 51, abused COVID relief funds, private grants and PTA membership dues totaling $900,000 to fund an extravagant lifestyle, according to court filings.
Carrera allegedly used the money on airfares, gambling, personal expenses and ‘voodoo magic spells’.
Federal officials in the state have opened a case against her, according to lawyer and former federal prosecutor Seth Waxman, who revealed their probe to The Baltimore Sun.
The most bizarre expenditure was over $27,000 she used on magic spells, psychic readings and spiritual services, according to an audit of the accounts.
The audit uncovered she had purchased four gambling spells including the ‘Bring Me Money Spell’ and the ‘Slot Machine Gambling Spell’
$8,500 was spent inside a spiritual goods store in Bladensburg, Maryland, while she spent another $5,300 in a mythical hoodoo store.
Her boyfriend Quincy Gant appeared to have been married at the time, and she is said to have used the funds to purchase a spell to break up the relationship.
LaTonja Carrera is alleged to have abused taxpayer funds given to the Maryland PTA totaling $900,000 to fund an extravagant lifestyle
As part of her spending she is said to have taken her then boyfriend Quincy Gant, seen here with Carrera, to Las Vegas before trying to split up his marriage using voodoo spells
Some of the sex curses she purchased included ‘Voodoo Hot Lust Spell’, ‘Change Lover’s Mind Spell’, and ‘The Couple Buster Curse’.
The latter of which was directly aimed at Gant, Carrera wrote in the comment section of the order: ‘Please make sure the names for the break up are Sophia M Osei Gant and Quincy G. Gant’, according to the court filing.
Waxman was asked by prosecutors to provide files relating to a forensic audit of the Maryland PTA that he had worked on as a court-appointed receiver in 2022 as the PTA was plunged into financial difficulties.
That audit uncovered the spending and an alleged money laundering scheme made up of 11 bank accounts she is said to have funneled ATM withdrawals through.
His findings made up a June 2023 lawsuit filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court that was filed on behalf of Maryland PTA.
Audit findings revealed that she Carrera left a trail of credit card receipts and tens of thousands of dollars in ATM transactions in a paper trail that crossed the US.
In total, she withdrew over $50,000 across 76 ATM transactions at eight casinos and $88,000 in non-casino ATMs 152 times.
Some of the casinos were in Maryland, others were in Philadelphia, Las Vegas and North Carolina.
One trip to Vegas was described as being a ‘romantic’ one that cost over $13,000 according to the filing.
She had purchased airline tickets for her and her boyfriend Quincy Gant that totaled $5,000, with hotel feels at the MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay costing $4,400.
While in Sin City, Carrera splashed out over $1,500 in a Pandora Jewelry Store, $375 at a restaurant and another $375 at a Michael Jackson themed show, the filings said.
The most bizarre expenditure was over $27,000 she used on magic spells, psychic readings and spiritual services, which included a curse to break up her boyfriend’s marriage
While in Vegas, Carrera allegedly spent over $1,500 in a Pandora Jewelry Store, $375 at a restaurant and another $375 at a Michael Jackson themed show
Gant told the outlet that he didn’t know who Carrera was, despite having signed on to two bank accounts with her.
Other expenditures included $30,000 in flights, hotels and transportation for trips to Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Uber trips totaled $1,888, car rentals hit $1,100 and she clocked in over $5,700 in Airbnb bookings, the filings said.
She is also said to have spent $20,000 on luxury clothing, spending lavishly on Christian Dior boots, Burberry dresses, scarves and quilts and over $1,300 on Chanel makeup.
Carrera also allegedly used $46,000 to cover rental payments for an apartment, and transferred $9,000 to her daughter using Cash App, the documents said.
Other spending included $86,000 on consumer goods and stores, $9,600 in restaurants, over $70,000 on Amazon and $89,000 for other goods.
Waxman had deposed Carrera in 2022 in which she denied ever having misappropriated the funds.
She is said to have spent over $1,300 on Chanel makeup alone while appropriating funds intended for the association (stock image)
It is alleged that Carrera spent lavishly on Burberry goods including scarves and quilts, her then boyfriend Quincy appears to be wearing a scarf by the high end brand in this picture
According to property records her last home was the above address in Prince Georges County worth $700,000
During the deposition he asked her if she had ever spent an money belonging to the PTA on anything other than legitimate purposes.
‘Not for myself. No,’ Waxman said she responded.
He also claims that she went to lengths to halt the investigation into the spending, saying she frauded doctors’ notes to claim she was unwell.
The alleged money laundering scheme involved her obtaining grant money and federal loans into a bank account she had control over, Waxman claimed.
She then would use a large portion of the money to fund her personal spending, while also laundering a portion of the funds by sending wires to other accounts controlled by her, it is claimed.
It is claimed she did so by forming two nonprofit companies that both had registered addresses as her home.
Waxman told the outlet he ended up dropping the case after he concluded she would never pay the money back to the PTA.
Court records indicate she already owes over $3 million to over 70 creditors after she filed for bankruptcy in 2016.
She is also said to have spent $20,000 on luxury clothing, spending lavishly Burberry dresses scarves and quilts
Waxman had deposed Carrera in 2022 in which she denied ever having misappropriated the funds
He said: ‘Based on the evidence, there is proof beyond a reasonable doubt that she is criminally guilty of various crimes, including theft and wire fraud.’
He added that it was not his job to come to that decision, and referred the case to federal prosecutors.
Waxman added: ‘I made a determination that there was no likelihood that the Maryland PTA would recover any of the money that she had stolen from them.
‘The better route was to refer the matter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Maryland and the FBI for criminal prosecution and the possibility that financial recovery could be achieved through a criminal action.’
It is not the first time she has been in legal troubles, she was convicted in 2004 on a fraud charge in Baltimore.
In December 2020, a month after she became the PTA president, she was charged with stealing $1,500 from an elderly veteran whose finances she looked after.
In 2022 she pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2023 to a year in jail, with ten months suspended, followed by three years probation.
Due to her leadership, the national office of the PTA but the Maryland division on probation in before it was ultimately revoked in March 2020.
The National PTA had previously filed suited against her alongside the state PTA and the Alliance for Maryland Parents, Teachers and Students. The case was sealed and settled last year.
Daily Mail have approached a legal representative for Carrera.
