The State’s attempt to collect $117 million from William Lager and his defunct ECOT seems to be going nowhere.
The ECOT counterfeit education online school was paid hundreds of millions for students not served. After about 15 years of stealing funds from Ohio school districts (while state officials fiddled), ECOT was found guilty of cooking the enrollment books and was required to repay stolen tax funds.
ECOT closed when the state put ECOT on a payback schedule. That was five years ago. Since the ECOT closing, the state, through litigation, has been attempting to collect some of the stolen funds. The latest issue being litigated is the state’s attempt to freeze the ECOT MAN’S assets. Lager amassed a fortune via the ECOT fraud. One court filing shows that Lager gave a $5 million house to one of his attorneys. The state’s attempt to freeze Lager’s assets seems too little too late.
Even though Lager stole, by my estimate, in the range of a half billion dollars from Ohio school districts and the attempt of the state to claw back $117 million, he will likely not ever pay back a dime.
Contrast that with an ECOT-type of charter school fraud in Indiana. Five people were indicted in federal court for “improperly” receiving $44 million. In this case the Indiana Department of Education is attempting to collect $150 million from the Indiana online charter for padding enrollment records.
The Indiana case is in federal court. Maybe the Ohio ECOT case should go to federal court.
Indiana Virtual School operators indicted in federal court | Fox 59
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VOUCHERS HURT OHIO