The Des Moines School Board in the state of Iowa failed to catch former Superintendent Ian Roberts, who was in the country illegally, in a conflict of interest with a contract, despite the fact that the district’s chief financial officer discovered the issue three months prior to the contract being awarded, according to information from a state audit.
Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand stated in a special report during a news conference on April 28, 2026, that Des Moines Public Schools CFO Shashank Aurora denied a contract in September 2023 to Lively Paradox, a consulting firm with connections to Roberts. The company’s website listed Roberts as a member of “our team,” and the former superintendent published several books with the founder of the firm, Nicole Price.
Roberts, originally hailing from Guyana in South America, worked for twenty years as an educator and administrator in urban districts across the country. He was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on September 26, 2025, an event that left the local community in shock and became a national news story after his criminal record was uncovered, which included charges of falsifying credentials. In January, he pleaded guilty to falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen and weapons charges.
According to CBS News, Des Moines Public Schools requested a reaudit of its finances in October 2025 after the Associated Press released a report that Roberts had been planning to ask the school board for a contract with Lively Paradox, a company that marketed him as a consultant and speaker. Financial officials with the district warned him not to do it because they discovered the conflict of interest.
Months later, however, the district paid Lively Paradox $6,476 in consulting and travel expenses for one-off work that Roberts could sign off on without needing the board’s approval. The state audit confirmed the findings, pointing out that the district’s chief financial officer stated that he “did not think Dr. Roberts would propose using Lively Paradox again after being declined the first time.”
At the time, the district also did not have a conflict-of-interest disclosure policy in place, only requiring hires to undergo training on the subject. That has since changed. Administrators will now be required to disclose annually any “actual or potential conflicts,” a statement from Kim Martorano, chair of the Des Moines School Board, said.
The audit also revealed that Roberts used district funds for over $2,000 in donations. The district informed investigators that it had made a request for legal advice and then made changes to its policies after Roberts’ payments of $1,200 for two tables at an Iowa Juneteenth event and $600 for eight tables at a Habitat for Humanity lunch. Both events were held in June 2024.
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Two other donations were made to Des Moines and Urbandale business and chamber associations. Martorano’s statement also placed emphasis on how those expenses were prohibited and the district would, from this point forward, reinforce the policy with more training. One of Roberts’ lawyers, Alfredo Parrish, spoke with reporters after he pleaded guilty in January and said that his client “wanted to accept responsibility and that’s what he did.”