Were the Rosses living the high life?

As educators working for the Davis County School District, John and Susan Ross were living the life of Riley, prosecutors say.

According to a civil forfeiture document unsealed in federal court Thursday, federal prosecutors say Susan Ross was raking in an average of $768,000 annually from the Davis County School District between 2000 and 2004.

Federal agents seized assets when the couple was indicted last November, including two houses in Layton and Mountain Green, several vehicles and 10 bank accounts, including a bank account in the names of Susan Ross' grandchildren. According to the affidavit, Susan Ross also bought one of her sons a $320,000 home in South Weber with what prosecutors claim were ill-gotten funds.

John and Susan Ross were indicted on charges that they embezzled $4.3 million in Title I federal education funds from the Davis School District by producing illegal, substandard copies of textbooks, for some of which the district paid as much as $93 each.

U.S. Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman said officials are just reaching the "tip of the iceberg" in their investigation into the embezzlement case, and they also have indications that the couple had been "taking remarkable vacations." He did not give specific examples.

In all, Tolman called the case "an egregious abuse of authority."

According to the FBI, which began investigating the couple in 2005, Susan Ross created a scheme in which she arranged to produce pirated, photocopied versions of textbooks. She then sold them to the school district at inflated prices through two shell companies, investigators said.

At the time, Susan Ross was the district's director of the federal Title I program, which benefits minority, disadvantaged and disabled children. John Ross also worked as the district's federal grant writer and often allocated federal funds to his wife, according to an indictment filed against the couple.

Court documents show that Susan Ross worked through a company, Research and Development Consultants Inc., which was owned by two other individuals. R&D would sell the books and collect payment from the school district. Agents say that between 2000 and 2006, the Davis County School District was R&D's only customer and source of income.

R&D would then take a share of the money and pass on the funds to Ross' own company, Notable Education Writing Services.