COLUMBUS, Ohio – Abdirizak Y. Farah, the founder and superintendent of two Columbus charter schools, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank fraud. Farah, 59, admitted to using school funds for personal purposes, including purchasing his home in New Albany.
Farah established the Focus Learning Academy of Northern Columbus (FLANC) in 2007, serving around 700 students from kindergarten through eighth grade. In 2020, he founded Focus Learning Academy of Central Columbus (FLACC), which caters to Pre-K through third grade students. Besides his educational roles, Farah also worked as a senior policy advisor for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Court documents revealed that in August 2020, Farah bought a $900,000 home on Lambton Park Road in New Albany. Two days before the closing date, he requested a $265,000 wire transfer from a Focus Learning bank account, claiming it was for “learning materials.” He then informed the bank handling his real estate closing that he received $260,000 as a gift, unrelated to the property purchase.
The following day, the recipient of the wired funds transferred $260,000 to the title company handling Farah’s closing. Soon after, several FLANC vendors made payments totaling around $265,000 to the person who helped Farah, and the funds were returned to FLANC.
As part of his plea agreement, Farah will forfeit $265,000 to the United States.
Karen Wingerd, Special Agent in Charge of the Cincinnati Field Office, stated, “The role of IRS Criminal Investigation becomes even more important in complex financial investigations that can take time to unravel. Federal tax laws are normally violated in these types of cases, which add additional jail time to sentences. As we often see, the victims are not only American taxpayers but also individuals and businesses who suffer financial harm.”
Conspiracy to commit bank fraud carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. The final sentencing will be determined by the Court, considering the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors at a future hearing.
