The investigators further accused Mr Beale of giving "untruthful" evidence during interviews.

Ms. Shepard and her investigators did not accuse any municipal officials of violating criminal laws.

The investigators accused their superiors of wanting to control the inquiry's outcome.

The boards run the elementary and junior high schools, appoint principals and fill so many other jobs that investigators have accused some of being patronage mills.

Earlier this year, another senior prosecutor in Palermo resigned after investigators accused him of blocking their inquiries into Mafia crimes.

But federal investigators accused the hospital network of "gaming the system and exploiting loopholes" to increase its revenues.

Mr. Fernandez ousted the previous board last spring after investigators accused several members of conspiring to sell principalships.

The district's superintendent committed suicide that same year after investigators accused him of stealing more than $100,000 from two antipoverty agencies.

A private investigator has accused him of using stolen church money for airfare, cruises, jewelry and limousine trips for himself or people close to him.