Political Donors Took Millions From Public Ed Coffers for Private School, Feds Allege

[TexasTowelie]

Two wealthy Mississippi political donors “conspired” to “fraudulently” obtain more than $2 million in public education funds and used it to pay for teachers’ salaries at their private school in Jackson, federal prosecutors allege.

A March 16, 2021, indictment, which the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi’s Northern Division unsealed today, charges mother-and-son duo Nancy New and Zachary New with 17 counts, including wire fraud, identity theft and money laundering. The allegedly unlawful activities began in 2016 and continued into 2020, the indictment says.

“According to the indictment, Nancy New and Zachary New submitted fraudulent reimbursement claims for the salaries of teachers at New Summit School in Jackson to the Mississippi Department of Education under the Mississippi Adequate Education Program,” the U.S. Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi said in a statement today.

“As a result, New Learning Resources, Inc., a for-profit company owned by Nancy New and Zachary New, fraudulently obtained in excess of two million dollars ($2,000,000) to which it was not entitled. Nancy W. New and Zachary W. New personally benefited from this scheme to defraud.”

Read more: https://www.mississippifreepress.org/10337/donors-took-millions-public-ed/