Schwartz, vice president of the West Valley-Mission Community College District board of trustees, said a recent investigation that uncovered money paid by tennis groups that never made it back to the college district first surfaced about four or five years ago.

Diane Tsutsumi, a former college employee, was charged with nine felony counts including misappropriation of public funds, embezzlement by a public employee, presenting a false claim to a public officer and filing fraudulent tax returns.

Tsutsumi, 59, allegedly embezzled between $200,000 and $266,000 by renting out the college's tennis courts to private individuals between 1997 and 2004 and taking the funds for her own personal use, according to the Santa Clara County district attorney. Tsutsumi was arraigned in Superior Court on June 21, and her next court date is July 6, where she is expected to plead not guilty.

"I'd like people in the community to know this was a result of someone in the district looking into it, not a casual comment made at a social cocktail gathering," Schwartz said.

That someone who looked into it was Schwartz.

"It's weird, frankly," he said. "It was an usual set of circumstances."

About four or five years ago, Schwartz received a complaint from a Saratoga resident who couldn't get on the tennis courts because a group using them refused to rotate off, as the posted signs require. The group wasn't a college class or team, Schwartz said.

"When the courts are not in official use, like for tennis classes, then they are open for casual use by the community and students," he said.

Schwartz took the complaint to the former district chancellor, Linda Salter, who looked into it and found there was no organized, scheduled use of the courts. Schwartz relayed this information to the Saratoga resident, and the issue was put to rest.

Then about two years later, Schwartz received a similar complaint from a neighbor's daughter who couldn't get on the courts because a group was using them. District Chancellor Stan Arterberry looked into the complaint and again found that nobody was scheduled to be using the courts. Arterberry and Schwartz speculated the group had set up and was hoarding the courts, Schwartz said.

"I was a little uneasy about it," Schwartz said. "You get complaints if you're a trustee, but it struck me that this was repetitive. I didn't hear back, so I dropped it."

Then about 1 1/2 years ago, an item on the board's agenda asked trustees to approve tennis courts in surplus for some specific portions of the week, which would go to bid and a contract awarded to the highest bidder. Schwartz said the item appeared to be written to give the contract to a particular group, so the item was pulled from the agenda.

"I was sitting at home that weekend ... and I get this little light bulb that goes on and I connect the dots," said Schwartz, linking the previous complaints over the years to the proposed contract.

Schwartz visited the tennis courts and found more than 50 people on a bank of tennis courts, including coaches and groups of children. Arterberry and other trustees ended up looking into the issue, which spurred an investigation by the West Valley-Mission District Police and the district attorney's office.

Dale Lohman, a Santa Clara County deputy district attorney, confirmed that, as a result of this case, there's an ongoing investigation into the possibility that Tsutsumi may have had some assistance in allegedly embezzling funds from the college. Lohman could not confirm how many people may have been involved.