Federal investigators say they believe that since the year 2000, two trusted Davis School District employees engaged in a scheme to bilk the district of millions in federal funds intended to help disadvantaged students.

The federal investigators suspect, however, that the pilfering dates to 1985, and they fear that millions more will remain unaccounted for.

With audits required yearly and school-board approval needed to sign off on most purchases, the question looms of how John Ross and his wife, Susan, could have carried out the alleged scheme year after year, according to prosecutors.

"I have never in the years I've worked here, which is going on 20, never heard anything either this elaborate or this much money," said Carol Lear, director of school law and legislation for the State Office of Education.

Susan Ross, who worked for the district since the 1970s, was director of Title I programs. About 14 schools in the district receive Title I funding.

Susan Ross apparently signed her own purchase orders that didn't require a higher-level approval, Davis Superintendent Bryan Bowles said. Those purchase orders could be anything less than $3,000.

"She was the director, and she had a lot of approval (power)," Bowles said. "You trust folks in those positions to do the right thing."

He said what initially raised eyebrows was the quality of the materials Susan Ross approved.

"It was horrible educational material — you could have done a better job in a local copy shop," Bowles said. "I thought, Why are we using this ...and how much are they spending on this?"

After further investigation, auditors found the federal money was going to a company that didn't appear to be a viable business — Notable Education Writing Services (NEWS).

Bowles said he immediately asked Susan Ross — John Ross had already retired —about embezzlement and she denied it. Bowles said the next day she went on vacation and never returned to work.

Bowles contacted Farmington Police Department, which began working with the FBI.

Law enforcement investigators say they believe the Rosses set up a shell company and routed purchases of pirated textbooks through another company, Research and Development Consultants Inc., which was run by two of their professional associates.

According to the indictment, those associates kept approximately 8 percent of the funds the company received from the school district and paid the remainder to NEWS.

"The thing that I am the most mad about is, they stole from children — they took from kids that really needed these opportunities. They stole from the kids who needed it the most," Bowles said.