Lawyer for Turkey seeks probe
‘Ohio schools have improper ties’
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct 12, (AP): A group of US charter schools in Ohio started by the followers of a reclusive Muslim cleric engaged in improper business relationships, a lawyer for the Turkish government alleges in a complaint filed Tuesday seeking a state investigation.
Attorney Robert Amsterdam also asserts that the schools have ties to the cleric, Fethullah Gulen. The schools previously have denied direct ties to Gulen, who lives as a recluse in eastern Pennsylvania.
The cleric is a political foe of Turkish President Recep Erdogan, and Erdogan’s government has accused Gulen of being the mastermind of a July 15 coup attempt.
Here’s a look at the Ohio allegations:
Amsterdam’s 18-page complaint alleges a network of 17 Ohio charter schools managed by Chicago-based Concept Schools engaged in improper relationships with their management company and landlord, with their business subsidiaries and with each other.
The schools operate in Ohio as Horizon Science Academies and Noble Academies.
Specifically, the complaint says Concept has collected $19 million in excessive profits in Ohio through a real estate practice Amsterdam calls “closed-loop leasing.”
“They do it by being on both sides
United States than coming, ending one of biggest immigration waves in US history. Lack of jobs for unskilled labor after the Great Recession is widely cited as a reason but border enforcement played a part.
The Border Patrol more than quintupled to 21,444 agents in 2011 from 4,028 in 1993. The US erected fences along about 650 miles of border with Mexico, nearly all of it in the final years of George W. Bush’s administration. Last year, Border Patrol — and sometimes three sides — of a transaction,” he said.
Public documents cited in the complaint show a company called Breeze Inc acquiring properties for Concept, and a nonprofit called New Plan Learning, which acts as an umbrella group for Breeze and several other affiliated subsidiaries, then buys, renovates, leases and sometimes sells the properties.
Leases and rental agreements the firm unearthed are often written to be non-cancellable, to include 2 percent to 4 percent escalation clauses and to make the taxpayer-funded charter school responsible for renovation and maintenance of the properties, Amsterdam said.
Lease payments have in some cases been doubled, tripled or quadrupled, he said, and extended to 30 years.
Members of the charter schools’ boards who approve such agreements are often tied to one or more of the companies, the complaint alleges.
Concept Schools spokesman Mark Weaver said the complaint contains “numerous false allegations.” He did not specify what about the report was false.
Weaver said ProgressOhio, the liberal policy group that hosted Amsterdam’s news conference, is affiliated with teachers unions whose earlier allegations against the schools couldn’t
arrests — one gauge of illegal crossings — fell to the lowest level since 1971.
About five years ago, the busiest corridor for illegal crossings began shifting from Arizona to South Texas, where roughly two of every three apprehended are from countries other than Mexico. Large numbers of women and children from Central America turned themselves in to US authorities, triggering lengthy proceedings in clogged immigration courts. Images of be substantiated.
“The last time this group made such allegations about Concept Schools, state education officials and the Auditor of State’s office found them to be incorrect and false. We expect the same will occur with these latest allegations,” he said. “Sadly, these false allegations undermine the hard work and success of our students, many of whom already face serious challenges.”
ProgressOhio says state officials failed to adequately investigate the earlier claims.
Amsterdam says “closed-loop leasing” revelations come on top of other allegations his firm and others have leveled against Gulen-affiliated schools elsewhere.
Concept Schools has consistently rejected the charges, which include that the chain misuses the H1B workvisa process to employ large numbers of Turkish nationals at the schools who must return a portion of their paychecks to the Gulen movement and that it influences politicians into disregarding questionable actions by handing out free trips to Turkey.
Weaver called Amsterdam “a foreign agent.” Amsterdam said he’s from the Bronx in New York City.
An FBI investigation into some of the Ohio charter schools is ongoing.
children crammed into Customs and Border Protection holding cells made big news in 2014. (AP)
Justice Dept to file ‘case’:
The US Justice Department’s promise to file a criminal contempt-of-court charge against the longtime sheriff of metro Phoenix comes less than a month before the 84-year-old lawman will learn whether he gets a seventh term in office.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio will face the possibility of jail time and a clouded political future when prosecutors file a misdemeanor contempt charge against him for defying a judge’s orders to end his signature immigration patrols. The charge was expected to be filed Wednesday.
Arpaio, who didn’t attend a hearing Tuesday in his contempt case, could face up to six months in jail if convicted of misdemeanor contempt.
The sheriff issued a statement saying he was confident he would be exonerated and accused President Barack Obama’s administration of trying to influence the sheriff’s race.
“It is no coincidence that this announcement comes 28 days before the election and the day before early voting starts,” Arpaio said. “It is a blatant abuse of power and the people of Maricopa County should be as outraged as I am.”
The US Justice Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Authorities were still considering a possible obstruction of justice charge against Arpaio that could result in more severe punishments, including losing his job. (AP)