Under investigation by the FBI, former superintendent Moss tries to make a career change
About five months after leaving the Beaufort County School District, former superintendent Jeff Moss is looking to make a career move.
Moss, who is under investigation by the FBI for financial transactions made during his five-year tenure at the district, recently applied for a general contractor’s license in North Carolina, according to documents obtained by The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette.
Robert Oetting, the district’s chief operations officer, submitted a reference letter on Oct. 9 for Moss’ application.
Over the last year, the Beaufort County School District has received four subpoenas from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for documents related to Moss’ five-year tenure at the district.
At least two of the subpoenas asked the district for documents related to the construction of two Bluffton schools, which were built during Moss’ tenure.
The fourth subpoena, which was issued to the district two days after Moss left the district, asked for Moss’ personnel records, as well as information about the district’s connection to the controversial Education Research and Development Institute and more than 30 other companies.
Earlier this fall, Moss asked the district for $35,000 to hire a former U.S. Attorney known for representing high-profile clients accused of white-collar crimes and warned that the situation would get worse for the district if it didn’t pay up.
The board denied his request about two months after his original plea.
Moss, who left the district on July 31, is also the subject of a recent ethics complaint with the S.C. State Ethics Commission.
He has not been charged in either the state or federal cases.
Since August, Moss has also been working as an independent education consultant for Coast of Carolina in Goldston, N.C., according to his Linkedin page.
Moss and his wife, Darlene, formed and registered Coast of Carolina Consulting LLC with the North Carolina Secretary of State in August 2016 — the same month that Moss admitted to two ethics violations related to the hiring of his wife for a high-paid district administrative position.
As of Dec. 20, Moss had not received his general contractor’s license, according to the North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors website.
Moss did not respond to an email asking him for a comment.
This story was originally published December 23, 2018 at 5:00 AM.
