Jonathan Weinhagen resigned from the Mounds View school board on Friday amid allegations that he embezzled more than $200,000 from the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce during his time as its president and CEO.
Jonathan Weinhagen in a photo submitted for a Mounds View school board candidate profile. (Courtesy of Jonathan Weinhagen)
Weinhagen, 42, of Shoreview, stepped down from the elected school board seat effective immediately, Mounds View Public Schools said in a notice to district families and staff Friday afternoon. He had been on the seven-member board since June 2014.
The board will need to discuss steps to fill the rest of his term, which ends Jan. 3, 2028, the notice said.
Board chair Diane Glasheen and school district superintendent Chris Lennox did not respond Friday to requests from the Pioneer Press asking for comment.
The five-count indictment alleges Weinhagen ran a fraud scheme between December 2019 and June 2024 — when he abruptly left the chamber — by setting sham contracts with a consulting company that he made up. He allegedly deposited money from the contracts into a bank account he opened under the phony company’s name and used it for personal expenses.
A grand jury on Wednesday indicted Weinhagen on one count each of wire fraud, mail fraud, attempted bank fraud and providing a false statement on a loan application. He made an initial court appearance on the charges Thursday, and was released from custody on an unsecured $25,000 bond.
The indictment also alleges Weinhagen stole $30,000 that the chamber had given to Crime Stoppers for reward money following the shootings of three children in Minneapolis in May 2021. After the cases went unsolved, Weinhagen asked Crime Stoppers to return the money in May 2022 and directed the nonprofit to send the refund check to his home, claiming it was the chamber’s new address. He allegedly used the money for personal expenses.
Weinhagen is also accused of using a chamber credit card for personal expenses, including for first-class airfare and a two-bedroom oceanfront room in Honolulu. He created fake documents to make it appear as though the expenses were for legitimate chamber business, the indictment alleges.
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After leaving the chamber, prosecutors say, Weinhagen tried to defraud a bank of $54,661 by falsely claiming on a loan application that he worked for a Minnesota-based restaurant holding company and providing a phony bank stub showing a $425,000 annual salary. The bank denied the loan.
Weinhagen worked at the St. Paul Area Regional Chamber of Commerce for about six and a half years, including more than two years as vice president, before departing in October 2016 for the Minneapolis chamber. His resignation from the Minneapolis organization followed an internal investigation that projected a $500,000 deficit in 2024.
An attorney for Weinhagen is not listed in the federal court file, and he has not responded to a message left for him asking to respond to the allegations.
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