A Monterey County school chef is accused of embezzling from the school where he worked.
Screenshot via Google Street View
An unusually large bill for a small breakfast-style event at a Monterey County school sparked an investigation into its once-celebrated food services director, who is now accused of embezzling nearly $59,000.
Terry Bumper, 42, allegedly used funds from the International School of Monterey, a public charter school in Seaside, to purchase food products for his private catering business Flava 2 You, a catering company he founded in 2023 specializing in Southern comfort food. Bumper was arrested Sept. 24, and the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office filed felony embezzlement charges against him Oct. 20, according to a Seaside Police Department news release.
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Seaside Police Chief Nick Borges told SFGATE that school administrators grew suspicious after noticing an excessive Costco purchase for a breakfast of eggs, bacon and potatoes.
“This isn’t like they ordered a little too much,” Borges said. “It was absolutely excessive.”
When the school conducted a closer examination of school purchases, it uncovered purchases of seafood, spicy foods and other items that were not served to students but appeared on Bumper’s catering menu, Borges said. Investigators later discovered Bumper’s school emails and Venmo transactions indicating that he had been charging people to use the school’s kitchen and equipment without authorization.
“The school had no idea this was happening,” Borges said. “They really did all the hard work, and our detectives came in and just really put it all together.”
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In a 2025 profile, Edible Monterey Bay credited Bumper with replacing the school’s frozen lunches with freshly prepared meals, doubling student participation and cutting program costs in half.
“Everyone loves what Terry’s doing, hands down,” Lisa Wichael Loomis, the school’s head of operations and human resources, told the publication. “We haven’t heard a single complaint.”
Bumper was not the only school employee under investigation. While detectives were examining allegations against him, school officials reported a second suspected embezzlement involving Chief Financial Officer Rosa Segura, 45.
Borges said investigators found evidence that Segura forged administrators’ signatures on checks and used school credit cards for personal expenses, including hotel stays, massages, salon visits, Pilates classes, and clothing. Segura was arrested Oct. 22 on suspicion of embezzling approximately $238,000.
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“This is not isolated,” Borges said. “This is not: I made a mistake, I shouldn’t have done this or I’m having a hard time. This is: I am hustling the system to my advantage with very low ethics. I think it’s disgusting. You’re not going to take advantage of the trust we give you to our pocketbook to help feed our children.”
While the two employees are accused of taking approximately $296,800 in total from the school, police said investigators have found no evidence that Bumper and Segura worked together or that their alleged activities were connected. The charges and alleged fraud date back over five years, Borges said.
“This is not something that just happened once or twice,” Borges said. “This is years of complete fraud.”
Both investigations remain ongoing, with Borges noting that investigators have some additional tips they’re looking into.
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SFGATE reached out to the International School of Monterey for a statement but did not get a response by the time of publication.
Anyone with information about either case is asked to contact Seaside Police Detective Sweyd at 831-899-6857.
Dining and Cooking