印第安纳州前在线学校运营总监虚报6000多名学生骗取6000多万美元教育资金被定罪
位于美国印第安纳州马里恩县 Indianapolis 市的联邦法院经过八天庭审，陪审团裁定来自印第安纳州 Delaware 县 Middletown 市的65岁男子 Phillip Holden 有罪，他是两所在线特许学校的前运营总监，因虚报学生人数骗取6,000多万美元州教育资金，被判17项电汇诈骗和1项共谋电汇诈骗成立。案件由印第安纳南区联邦检察官办公室公布。
据法庭文件和庭审证据，Holden 担任 Indiana Virtual School 和 Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy 两校的运营总监。至少在2016年至2018年间，他与学校创始人 Thomas Stoughton 等人合谋，向印第安纳州教育部虚报注册人数，在2016年夏季至2018年夏季间谎称有6,000多名学生注册。
这两所学校与印第安纳州其他公立和特许学校一样，按上报的在读学生人数领取州拨款，上报人数越多，拨款越多。虚假上报使印第安纳州教育部向两校多付了6,000多万美元。庭审证据显示，被告要求员工在注册或续注册前停止核实学生意愿，把未实际就读、不符合资格的人也算作学生，其中有人已经毕业、参军、转学，甚至已经去世。
在2018年9月的统计日之前，被告还让信息技术承包商找出因不活跃已被除名、又未在州教育部数据库中显示就读其他学校的前学生名单，拿到约600人名单后指示员工把其中许多人重新注册，计入官方人数。证据还显示，Holden 按 Stoughton 的指示，报复一名在2017年试图向州教育部举报诈骗的员工，先威胁、后将其解雇。
创始人 Thomas Stoughton 现年77岁，来自 Carmel，原定一同受审，在开庭前一天认罪，承认58项洗钱、17项电汇诈骗和1项共谋电汇诈骗，定于2027年3月11日量刑。Holden 每项罪名最高可判20年监禁，定于2027年2月25日量刑。
本案由联邦调查局 FBI 印第安纳波利斯分局、印第安纳州审计委员会、印第安纳州监察长办公室和印第安纳州警察共同调查，庭审由联邦地区法官 Richard L. Young 主持。
Former Indiana Online School Director Convicted of Wire Fraud in $60 Million Enrollment Scheme
After an eight-day trial in federal court in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, a jury convicted Phillip Holden, 65, of Middletown, in Delaware County, Indiana, of 17 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in a scheme that fraudulently obtained more than $60 million in state education funding through two online charter schools. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Indiana announced the verdict.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Holden served as Director of Operations for Indiana Virtual School and Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy. From at least 2016 to 2018, Holden participated in a scheme with founder Thomas Stoughton and others to fraudulently inflate student enrollment figures reported to the Indiana Department of Education, claiming more than 6,000 students were enrolled between the summers of 2016 and 2018.
Like other public and charter schools in Indiana, the two schools received state funding based on reported enrollment, so higher reported numbers brought more funding. The fraudulent submissions caused the department to overpay the two schools by more than $60 million. Trial evidence showed the defendants directed employees to stop verifying student interest before enrollment or re-enrollment, allowing inactive and ineligible individuals to be counted, including people who had already graduated, joined the military, transferred to other schools, or were deceased.
Shortly before the September 2018 count day, the defendants directed an information technology contractor to identify about 600 former students who had been unenrolled for inactivity and were not listed as attending another school, then instructed employees to re-enroll many of them for the official count. Evidence also showed Holden, at Stoughton's direction, retaliated against an employee who tried to report the fraud to the department in 2017, threatening and ultimately firing the employee.
Stoughton, 77, of Carmel, the founder of both schools, pleaded guilty the day before trial to 58 counts of money laundering, 17 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 11, 2027. Holden faces up to 20 years in federal prison per count and is scheduled to be sentenced on February 25, 2027.
The FBI Indianapolis Division, the Indiana State Board of Accounts, the Indiana Office of Inspector General and the Indiana State Police investigated the case. U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young presided over the trial, which included testimony from 40 witnesses and more than 350 exhibits.
来源：美国司法部
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：联邦调查局 FBI 总部大楼（联邦固定图库）。 / Photo: FBI headquarters building (federal asset library).
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