COLUMBUS, Ohio – A man who bilked central Ohio’s two largest school districts out of more than $100,000 will spend a year and a half behind bars.
Ashkir Ali, 46, of Columbus was sentenced to 18 months for billing the Columbus City Schools and the South Western City Schools $120,000 for tutoring services during the 2020-11 school year that were never provided, according to a release from the office of U.S. attorney Carter Stewart.
“Ali’s students never learned the meaning of the word ‘sentence’ from him. But he’ll have plenty of time to ponder what it means while serving his,” said state Auditor David Yost, whose office helped uncover evidence of wrongdoing in the U.S. Department of Education’s Supplemental Education Services Program.
Ali pleaded guilty on Nov. 14 to one count of making false statements in invoices he sent to the federal program while he was owner of WAISS Network Technologies, Stewart’s office said.
According to court documents, Ali created used forged information about tutors, student and parents to bill Columbus City Schools about $100,000 over the two-year period for tutoring 51 students who either never attended the sessions or showed up rarely.
Ali used the same method to defraud South Western City Schools out of approximately $20,000. Authorities did not find a single student who attended the tutoring Ali’s company claimed to have provided.
Stewart’s office says allegations surfaced of possible misconduct by providers of the Supplemental Education Services Program in January 2011.
Yost’s Special Investigations unit conducted a special audit of the Columbus City School District in June 2011 in the wake of a data-scrubbing scandal.