{"id":126753,"date":"2021-05-28T17:49:04","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T17:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=126753"},"modified":"2021-05-28T17:49:04","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T17:49:04","slug":"former-obama-education-advisor-seth-andrew-in-talks-to-resolve-charter-school-theft-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/politics\/former-obama-education-advisor-seth-andrew-in-talks-to-resolve-charter-school-theft-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Obama education advisor Seth Andrew in talks to resolve charter school theft case"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Federal prosecutors and a lawyer for former Obama White House education advisor Seth Andrew are in talks about potentially disposing of the criminal case that accuses him of ripping off a charter school network that he founded of $218,000, a court filing revealed.<\/li>\n<li>The 42-year-old Andrew, who is free on a $500,000 bond, is the founder of Democracy Prep Public Schools, which he left in 2013 to join the administration of then-President Barack Obama.<\/li>\n<li>Prosecutors last month accused Andrew of looting a series of escrow accounts belonging to individual schools in the Democracy Prep network in 2019.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Federal prosecutors and a lawyer for former Obama White House education advisor Seth Andrew are in talks about potentially disposing of the criminal case that accuses him of ripping off a charter school network that he founded of $218,000, a court filing revealed.<\/p>\n<p>Those discussions, which could involve a possible plea deal with Andrew, came to light just a month after he was arrested on a criminal complaint in New York City on charges of wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements to a financial institution.<\/p>\n<p>The 42-year-old Andrew, who is free on a $500,000 bond, is the founder of Democracy Prep Public Schools, which he left in 2013 to join the administration of then-President Barack Obama.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors last month accused Andrew of looting a series of escrow accounts belonging to individual schools in the Democracy Prep network in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew then allegedly used most of that money to maintain a bank account minimum, which in turn gave him a more favorable interest rate on the $1.776 million mortgage for the Manhattan residence that he shares with his wife, CBS News anchor Lana Zak.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew and Zak obtained a mortgage rate of just 2.5%, or 0.5% less than they would have had to pay, as a result of having more than $1 million on deposit with the lender.<\/p>\n<p>Without the more than $142,000 in allegedly stolen funds that he deposited with the lender, &quot;Andrew would have been eligible for only a 0.375% interest rate deduction,&quot; the U.S. Attorney&#x27;s Office for the Southern District of New York noted last month.<\/p>\n<p>Democracy Prep has said it learned of the unauthorized withdrawals and then contacted authorities.<\/p>\n<p>Zak, who has three children with Andrew, is not accused of wrongdoing.<\/p>\n<p>Thursday was the legal 30-day deadline for Andrew to be charged in the case by either a grand jury indictment or another type of charging document, known as an information, which is typically filed when a defendant has signaled his willingness to plead guilty.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, the prosecutor in the case asked Manhattan federal court Magistrate Judge Barbara Moses to extend that deadline.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Defense counsel and the Government are discussing a potential disposition to this case and other matters,&quot; Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Finkel wrote in a court filing.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Therefore, the Government is requesting a 30-day continuance until June 27, 2021, to continue the foregoing discussions. The undersigned personally spoke with defense counsel who specifically consented to this request.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Moses granted the request for a continuance in an order which was made public Friday.<\/p>\n<h2>CNBC Politics<\/h2>\n<p>Read more of CNBC&#x27;s politics coverage:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Biden\u2019s budget will include $5 trillion in new federal spending over the next decade<\/li>\n<li>Senate GOP unveils its $928 billion infrastructure counteroffer to Biden \u2014 here\u2019s what\u2019s in it<\/li>\n<li>Biden goes on offensive against economic critics, argues rising wages show his agenda is working<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>A disposition in a criminal case typically refers to a guilty plea, an acquittal at trial, or, less commonly, the dismissal of charges by prosecutors.<\/p>\n<p>It is common for prosecutors and defense attorneys to discuss a possible plea agreement, but such discussions do not always end with a deal.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney&#x27;s Office for the Southern District of New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>CNBC has also reached out to request comment from Andrew&#x27;s lawyer, Edward Kim.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew until his arrest had been CEO of Democracy Builders, a group that bills itself as a &quot;social sector studio that has launched more than $1b in enterprises that are changing the face of education, democracy, and technology around the world.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Democracy Builders in 2020 bought the former campus of Marlboro College in Marlboro, Vermont, for more than $1.7 million, with the goal of setting up a school there dubbed Degrees of Freedom.<\/p>\n<p>The group removed Andrew as chairman of its board of directors and restricted his access to all financial accounts after learning of his arrest.<\/p>\n<p>Natasha Trivers, the current CEO of the charter school network, Democracy Prep, last month said in an email to the network&#x27;s families that Andrew&#x27;s &quot;alleged actions are a profound betrayal of all that we stand for and to you and your children, the scholars and families that we serve.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Trivers added, &quot;The network&#x27;s finances remain strong, and at no time did any of the activity by Seth Andrew have any adverse effect on our scholars or the functioning of our schools.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/05\/28\/former-obama-advisor-seth-andrew-in-talks-to-resolve-charter-school-theft.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Federal prosecutors and a lawyer for former<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":126752,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23055],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.7 - 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