The principal of a Central Florida charter school quit this week after saying she wrote a check for $100,000 in the school’s account to an internet scammer posing as Elon Musk.
Dr Jan McGee, who was head of Burns Science and Technology Charter School in Oak Hill, said she was ‘groomed’ for four months by someone posing as the founder of SpaceX, who is also the CEO of Twitter and Tesla, NBC subsidiary WESH reported.
“I’m a very smart woman. Well educated. I fell for a scam,” McGee said.
McGee said he’s been trying to get Musk and his money involved in the STEM school for years.
“Somehow she believed in it,” board chairman Albert Amalfitano said. “It must have been really convincing.”
McGee said he gave the check to someone he believed was Musk’s right-hand man with the promise of getting $6 million back. The director had permission to issue checks up to $50,000 without board approval.
“I put myself in this position and this mess and made the wrong decision,” McGee said.
The check was stopped before being cashed. In a meeting, McGee resigned after being challenged by several administrators in what some called a “toxic” work environment.
“When you lose the respect of… When your leadership is now in question, you can’t lead properly and it’s going to cause chaos,” Amalfitano said.