Woman accused in $4.5 million theft from water district leaves UNLV job

A woman accused of bilking the Las Vegas Valley Water District out of $4.5 million is no longer employed by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

University spokesman Tony Allen said Jennifer McCain-Bray’s employment ended Friday, but he declined to say whether she quit or was fired.

The water district has identified McCain-Bray as the sole employee behind a yearslong scheme involving tens of thousands of ink jet cartridges that were bought with public money and sold under the table to a buyer in New Jersey.

The well-liked purchasing analyst known to her coworkers as JJ quit her $97,880-a-year job with the utility on Dec. 16, after reportedly admitting to ripping off her employer.

District officials said she was on paid administrative leave and in the process of being fired at the time of her resignation.

UNLV hired McCain-Bray in late March as a $50,000-a-year purchasing analyst. It’s unclear what communication there was — if any — between the university and the water district about her employment history before she got the job.

McCain-Bray could not be reached for comment Friday.

No charges have been filed against her, but the printer ink ring is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation by the FBI.

According to the water district, the scheme was uncovered when one of McCain-Bray’s coworkers reported some questionable purchases.

During the internal investigation that followed, the district’s purchasing manager, accounting supervisor and one of its finance analysts all left the agency before they could be fired for failing to notice the unusual activities and expenditures, according to spokesman Bronson Mack.

The purchasing manager retired in February, and the other two resigned in March. Mack said the district has found no evidence to suggest they were involved in the embezzlement.

Contact Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Follow @RefriedBrean on Twitter.