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Feds Also Looking Into Charter School Allegation

Epic Schools

In a front page story, the Tulsa World reports the FBI is also looking into the operation of the Epic Charter School in Oklahoma. A state investigation is also underway.

Investigators allege the founders of Oklahoma's largest virtual charter school embezzled millions of dollars in state funds through an illegal scheme involving the use of "ghost students" to inflate enrollment numbers.

The allegations against Epic Charter Schools were outlined in an affidavit for a search warrant of an Epic teacher's Oklahoma City home.

Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent Tommy Johnson wrote in the affidavit that the school's founders, David Chaney and Ben Harris, split illegal profits of more than $10 million between 2013 and 2018.

Johnson said the men recruited home-school and private-school students to enroll in Epic, sometimes without the knowledge of the students' parents.

The investigation is ongoing, and formal charges haven't been filed.