The former advisor for the United States Department of Homeland Security and creator of two charter schools in Columbus faces up to 30 years in jail after admitting to buying a $900,000 house using school funds.
On Monday, 59-year-old Abdirizak Farah admitted to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio that he had conspired to conduct bank fraud. He established the charter schools Focus Learning Academy in Northern Columbus and Focus Learning Academy in Central Columbus and served as its administrator.
According to the prosecution, Farah used $265,000 from a Focus Learning bank account to buy a $900,000 house in New Albany in August 2020.
Roughly 700 children in kindergarten through eighth grade attend this school. In 2020, he also established FLACC, a school for youngsters in grades pre-K through 3, on Cleveland Avenue in Columbus.
Farah’s lawyer, Michael Hunter, said that his client promptly repaid the money funding the gift letter before the property transaction was finalized. Hunter stated that Farah was highly sorry for what he did.
According to the court records, Farah bought a house in New Albany on Lambton Park Road for $900,000 in August 2020. Two days before his scheduled closing, on August 12, Farah asked for a $265,000 wire transfer from a bank account belonging to Focus Learning to be sent to someone else, citing the need for “learning materials.”
According to the statement, Farah sent a letter to the bank that was managing his real estate closing on the same day, explaining that he had received $260,000 in gift money that had nothing to do with the closure.
The individual who received the wired funds sent $260,000 to the title business in charge of the New Albany home’s closing the following day, August 13. In the days that followed, the individual who helped Farah received payments from many FLANC suppliers totaling around $265,000, and FLANC later received those funds back.
The United States will get $265,000 from Farah as part of his plea deal. There was no announcement on Farah’s sentencing date from the US Attorney’s Office.