Ex-ESD official gets probation

A former Bexar County Emergency Services District administrator was sentenced to 10 years of probation and ordered to repay almost $150,000 Wednesday for a scheme that defrauded taxpayers of thousands of dollars, according to the district attorney’s office.

Gilbert Muniz Perez, 62, pleaded guilty in district court to a seconddegree felony charge of theft by public servant $30,000-$150,000 and received his sentence from Judge Stephanie Boyd.

Perez was a former administrator for Districts 1, 2, 10, 11 and 12, and he was also the former board president for Districts 4 and 8.

According to law enforcement officials, he was able to siphon off thousands of dollars through expense reports he made for mileage, meals and office supplies that were submitted without any supporting documentation.

Additionally, almost 400 checks were found to be out of sequence for Districts 10, 11 and 12 in 2015, a red flag for investigators that points to an attempt to conceal misappropriated payments.

“Perez abused his positions by misapplying and misusing government funds entrusted to him by the ESDs, the County Commissioners, and the taxpayers of Bexar County,” Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said in a written statement. “Perez devised a variety of overpayment schemes in the form of reimbursement and payment irregularities, to include duplicate payments, fictitious and disallowable expenditures, credit card payments for personal use, and other unauthorized purchases and expenses.”