Charter school head pleads guilty to using $265,000 in school cash to buy New Albany home

The founder and superintendent of two Columbus charter schools pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to conspiring to commit bank fraud after using more than a quarter of a million dollars from the schools to help buy a house in New Albany.

Abdirizak Y. Farah, 59, faces a possible sentence of up to 30 years in prison for his guilty plea, according to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in Columbus. Sentencing will be determined at a later date.

As part of his plea, Farah will also forfeit $265,000 to the United States, but the New Albany home is not part of the plea agreement for forfeiture.

Farah founded Focus Learning Academy of Northern Columbus (FLANC) on Dublin Granville Road in 2007, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's office in Columbus. The school serves approximately 700 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. He also founded Focus Learning Academy of Central Columbus (FLACC) on Cleveland Avenue in 2020, which serves pre-kindergarten through third grade students.

Other school officials at the two charter schools could not be immediately reached for comment. Farah appears to be still listed as superintendent of both schools on the school websites.

In a statement provided to The Dispatch, Michael Hunter, the lawyer representing Farah, said that he "promptly repaid the money funding the gift letter before the purchase of the home was complete." Farah "is deeply remorseful for his conduct," Hunter said.

"Farah looks forward to putting this mistake behind him," Hunter said. "He remains committed to providing leadership, service, and support to FLANC, its students, and his community."

In August 2020, Farah purchased a $900,000 home on Lambton Park Road in New Albany, according to court documents. On Aug. 12, two days before his original closing date, Farah requested a $265,000 wire transfer from a Focus Learning bank account to another person and stated the purpose was for “learning materials.”

That same day, Farah submitted a letter to the bank handling his real estate closing, stating he received $260,000 in gifted funds that were unrelated to the real estate transaction, according to the release.

The next day, on Aug. 13, the person who received the wired funds in turn wired $260,000 to the title company handling the closing on the New Albany home. In the following days, several FLANC vendors made payments totaling approximately $265,000 to the person who assisted Farah, and that money was returned to FLANC.

Hunter said that "Farah’s conduct in no way implicates (FLANC), and his agreement with the government to accept responsibility and resolve this matter makes clear that FLANC did nothing wrong."

Karen Wingerd, IRS special agent in charge at the Cincinnati field office, said financial cases like this can take time to unravel. She said federal tax laws are normally violated in these types of cases, which adds additional jail time to sentences.

"As we often see, the victims are not only American taxpayers, but also individuals and businesses who suffer financial harm,” Wingerd said.

Dispatch reporter Shahid Meighan contributed to this report.

Cbehrens@dispatch.com

@colebehr_report

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Charter school head pleads guilty to using $265,000 in school cash to buy New Albany home