Defunct Cleveland charter school faces $9.4 million suit from Ohio attorney general

Defunct Cleveland charter school faces $9.4 million suit from Ohio attorney general

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Attorney General Mike DeWine's office is suing to recover almost $2.6 million found to be illegally transferred from the now-defunct Lion of Judah Academy to people and businesses associated with running the Cleveland charter school.

The lawsuit, filed Monday against 19 individuals and businesses affiliated with the East Side charter school, also seeks more than $6.8 million in damages under the state's organized crime law.

Academy officials diverted nearly a third of the school's resources to other companies they controlled and also received bonuses and other financial perks, according to the lawsuit. Lion of Judah took in nearly $8.2 million in public funds between 2007 and 2013, when the academy was shut down, the lawsuit stated.

Meanwhile, the school itself continually languished in academic emergency - the institutional equivalent of an "F" - and legitimate debts were ignored, according to DeWine's lawsuit.

Last year the State Auditor's office released some of their shocking findings.

Lion of Judah Academy Owes $1.3 Million, Carl Shye Involved

The audits covered 2007-2010 and identified a total of $1,292,858 in findings for recovery. Included in the findings were practices known as “kickbacks” where administrators, including Romey Coles, Superintendent of the now closed Lion of Judah Academy, would receive monies from payments made to contracted companies.

One instance of “kickbacks” occurred when the academy made payments to Eclypse International, LLC, totaling $112,000. With the $112,000, Eclypse International made “kickback” payments to academy administrators totaling $43,500.

The audits identified a total of $1,170,116 in findings related to unlawful interests in public contracts. The audit also identified $89,495 in unsupported expenditures, $19,762 in unallowable expenditures and $13,485 in unsupported bank withdrawals.

...Carl Shye served as the academy’s treasurer during the 2008-09 audit. In 2012, Shye was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay more than $472,000 in restitution for a federal embezzlement charge related to his employment as treasurer for various community schools in Ohio.

Such a waste of taxpayer money that should have gone to learning.