Ex-Miami-Dade School Board member accused of spending district funds back in court

A former Miami-Dade School Board member accused of going on a $100,000 shopping spree with district funds was back in court Wednesday for a hearing to discuss her bond.

Lubby Navarro attended the Nebbia hearing, or a bail source hearing, which is a court procedure during which you must disclose the source of funds used to post bail are legitimate.

Navarro, who previously represented District 7 and had been the board's vice chair, was arrested last week and is facing charges including organized fraud and grand theft, Miami-Dade jail records showed.

Miami-Dade Corrections

After being booked into jail, Navarro was released on bond and given house arrest with a GPS monitor.

At Wednesday's hearing, prosecutors said they received a packet on the source of the bond funds but are still in need of more documents. There was also an issue with one document which had incorrect years.

Prosecutors said they are waiting for defense attorneys to issue those corrections. An update hearing was scheduled for Jan. 31.

"Ms. Navarro states without equivocation that she is innocent of all wrongdoing, and she appreciates the many expressions of support and well wishes by those who know her the best," her attorney, Michael Davis, told reporters after the hearing.

At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said the investigation into Navarro began in January 2023, after Navarro resigned and left the board on Dec. 31, 2022.

Navarro, 49, who'd been appointed to the board in February 2015 by then-Gov. Rick Scott, had been issued credit cards by the district to pay for small expenses and travel, Fernandez Rundle said.

After her resignation, Navarro still had outstanding credit card paperwork that was due, and when investigators started to look at bills and statements, they found them to be suspicious, Fernandez Rundle said.

The investigation found more than $100,000 in unauthorized personal purchases by Navarro throughout 2022, Fernandez Rundle said.

That includes more than $92,000 spent at retail stores like Walmart, Office Depot, Brandsmart and elsewhere on items including appliances, electronics, clothing, health and beauty products, household goods, home furnishings, food, and gift cards, Fernandez Rundle said.

Surveillance images from Walmart that were released by prosecutors showed Navarro allegedly making some of the illegal purchases.

Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office

Navarro also spent more than $9,000 on unauthorized purchases related to travel, including airfare, hotels, car rentals, and meals, Fernandez Rundle said.

The travel expenses included taking her mother to the Dominican Republic, taking her then-boyfriend to Las Vegas, and paying for his family to go to Disney World, Fernandez Rundle said.

Navarro also purchased items for the Fort Lauderdale market owned by the boyfriend, which included a commercial grade refrigerator, chest freezer, wine chiller, and expresso machine, Fernandez Rundle said.

Other items purchased ended up at Navarro's Kendall home or at a storage facility she'd paid for with the gift cards, Fernandez Rundle said.

"Every dollar stolen and spent by Ms. Navarro is a dollar taken from our school system and therefore stolen from our children and diminishing their possibility of a better future," Fernandez Rundle said. "She knew better than to have gone down this very pathetic path."

In a statement, Navarro's attorneys said her arrest was a "brazen disregard for fairness and the Constitution" and proclaimed her innocence.

"Ms. Navarro, an honorable government employee and former Member of the Miami-Dade School Board, has lived her life in service to the community. She has never before been accused of any wrongdoing and was given no opportunity to demonstrate her innocence in advance of her surprise arrest. She was not even provided the routine opportunity to allow her lawyer to surrender her as she fights these allegations," read the statement from attorney Benedict P. Kuehne. "Ms. Navarro fully intends to prevail in this case. This effort to ruin her well-deserved reputation as an honest, properly motivated community servant will be shown to be unjust. Ms. Navarro looks forward to her complete vindication and her resumption of working for the betterment of the community. Ms. Navarro states without equivocation that she is innocent of wrongdoing and appreciates the many expressions of support and well wishes by those who know her best."

Miami-Dade County Public Schools also released a statement on the arrest.

"Miami-Dade County Public Schools has been made aware of the recent arrest of former School Board Member Lubby Navarro," a spokespertson wrote in the statement. "As this remains an active, open matter, we will not be commenting on this situation. We will fully cooperate with law enforcement agencies as necessary."

An arraignment hearing for Navarro has been scheduled for February 9.