Feds Seize Records of Oakland, Calif., Charter Schools

Raid at the home of former director

FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents seized several boxes of records, phones and computers during a raid at the home of Ben Chavis, the former director of three controversial Oakland charter schools.

At the same time, federal agents Wednesday evening were filling a van with documents and other records from the three American Indian charter schools in the coordinated raid witnessed by at least a handful of students, school officials said.

The raid caught the charters' staff by surprise, but city and Oakland Unified school officials said Thursday that they were aware of an investigation that started at least several months ago.

Chavis said the sealed federal warrants included his wife, Marsha Amador, who is also a former employee of the charter schools.