Malik Turnage Jr., owner of Cheese Bus, sentenced to 5 years' probation for insurance fraud

A Queens school bus company owner who submitted fake insurance certificates amid an investigation into a sexual assault on a Valley Stream student by one of its drivers was sentenced to 5 years' probation on Monday in Nassau County Court.

Malik Turnage Jr., who owns Cheese Bus with his father, pleaded guilty in March to multiple counts of filing a false instrument and insurance fraud after he emailed several forged certificates of insurance to the Valley Stream Central School District and the Valley Stream Union Free School District 13 from 2019 to 2024.

The company had insurance for other school districts, but not for Valley Stream, prosecutors said.

The school district discovered the fake paperwork when they launched an investigation into Cheese Bus driver Giovanny Campos, who was 50 at the time he raped a teenage student repeatedly between January and July 2023, according to court records.

Campos was arrested on Sept. 28, 2023.

About a month later, Turnage sent phony certificates of sexual abuse and molestation insurance from the Integon National Insurance Company, but the company had no record of insurance for the district, prosecutors said.

Campos was eventually convicted of third-degree rape and kidnapping of a Valley Stream high school student. He is currently serving a 4-year prison sentence.

The family of the teenage girl filed suit against Cheese Bus, the school district and Nassau County in March 2024 for negligence and failing to provide adequate supervision over the bus driver.

Turnage and his father were arrested on insurance fraud charges last year. Edward Sapone, the lawyer for both men, said the father did not know about the fake insurance paperwork. His case was adjourned and will be dismissed and sealed.

At the sentencing on Monday, Supreme Court Justice Robert Schwartz admonished Turnage, saying he “cut corners.”

“I think what you did here was not malicious but you got in over your head,” the judge said. “You put a lot of members of the Valley Stream school district at risk.”

Leaders of the Valley Stream schools affected by the fraud submitted statements about how the crime has shaken the public's faith in the local education system.

“The effects of this misconduct extends to students, families, administrators and the broader community, all of whom rely on the honesty and reliability of those with whom the district contracts,” Valley Stream Union Free School District Superintendent Judith LaRocca said in a statement to the court. “When such integrity is compromised, confidence in the systems designed to protect children is undermined.”

The judge ordered the busing company to pay $6,000 in fines for the crime.

Valley Stream Central School District no longer contracts with Cheese Bus, which had been transporting students learning English as a second language.

“The impact of these actions extends beyond administrative inconvenience. Such conduct erodes the confidence of parents, students, staff and the broader community in the systems designed to protect children. It raises fundamental questions regarding safety, accountability and trust in those entrusted with the care of students, the most vulnerable members of our community,” Valley Stream Central School District Supervisor Wayne Loper said in a statement.

Sapone defended his client as a “hardworking young man” who has a bright future.

“He’s here with full remorse,” he told the court.

Turnage expressed regret as well during the hearing.

“I definitely apologize for my actions,” he said. “I definitely don’t plan on being back in a courtroom.”