Treasurer goes to prison for embezzling Schools’ money

Carl W. Shye, Jr., 57, of New Albany, Ohio, was sentenced in U.S. District Court today to 24 months in prison and ordered to repay $472,579.90 in federal funds that he embezzled between 2005 and 2011 while serving as treasurer for four community schools in Ohio.
Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Ohio Auditor of State Dave Yost; Edward J. Hanko, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and Executive Director Paul Nick of the Ohio Ethics Commission announced the sentence imposed today by U.S. District Judge Gregory L. Frost.
Shye pleaded guilty on June 21, 2012, to one count of embezzlement. Shye admitted that, between October 2005 and September 2011, Shye used his position as treasurer of multiple Ohio community schools to embezzle from the schools that employed him.
The schools involved include the former George Washington Carver Preparatory Academy which was located in Columbus, Ohio; the former Legacy Academy for Leaders & Arts which was in Youngstown, Ohio; and the former NuBethel Center of Excellence and New City Community School, both in Dayton.
The primary means by which Shye illegally converted community school funds to his own use was through checks he made to himself as treasurer and custodian of the schools’ bank accounts that were in excess of his approved salary or contracted compensation amount. Shye took steps to hide these payments from the administrators and board members of the respective schools. In one example presented to the court, Shye made five salary payments to himself for one service period. Shye also admitted that he cut and pasted the signature of the then-deceased board member of one community school onto a copy of a false contract with the school after auditors requested a copy to try and verify his compensation.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine will oversee distribution of the restitution. Judge Frost ordered Shye to surrender to the facility to be designated by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons when notified by the U.S. Marshals Service.
Stewart acknowledged Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, whose office provided assistance in the investigation. Stewart also commended the cooperative investigation by the FBI, Ohio Auditor Dave Yost’s Office, and the Ohio Ethics Commission, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Squires, who prosecuted the case.