Banned From State Business, Contractor Cuts Lucrative Deals With TX School District

Find a buck where you can

BEAUMONT – An electrical contractor for the scandal-plagued Beaumont Independent School District was barred from doing business with the state nine months ago, yet the school district continues to send business his way.

After a 37-count federal fraud case against him ended in a mistrial, electrician Calvin G. Walker pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal last July to not reporting almost $1.6 million in income. That was just a fraction of the millions that prosecutors alleged Walker obtained through no-bid contracts, doctored invoices and checks presented for reimbursement that had never been cashed.

Walker admitted to submitting an "invoice in the amount of $382,975.32, which had been altered to reflect it was an invoice when in fact it was a quote and not an actual purchase." Walker wrote a check payable to the wholesaler for $382,975.32, and sent the district a copy for reimbursement, yet the original was never deposited.