Leondo Ramone Davenport, 50, of Cincinnati, and Jonathan Larry Ballew, 62, of Phoenix are accused of taking part in an $8 million kickback scheme, according to federal officials. (Credit: WKRC)
Taxpayer dollars intended for a public charter school in Ohio were instead spent on $30,000 per month in rent on a luxury vacation property near Miami, according to a new federal indictment.
Leondo Ramone Davenport, 50, of Cincinnati, and Jonathan Larry Ballew, 62, of Phoenix, Arizona, have been charged in a $8 million fraud and kickback scheme, according to prosecutors.
Davenport was superintendent of Dohn Community High School from 2015 to 2019. The school was incorporated as a non-profit addiction recovery program for high school students.
“This indictment alleges a brazen scheme that stole from both taxpayers and students,” U.S. Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald said in a statement. “Education dollars exist to support the learning and development of American children – not to fund the lifestyles of unscrupulous school officials.”
According to the indictment, from 2021 to 2024, “Davenport and Ballew participated in a kickback scheme to defraud the school,” a news release said. “Ballew allegedly submitted false and fraudulent invoices to Dohn on behalf of the entities he controlled. Davenport allegedly authorized Dohn to pay the invoices and received a kickback in return. In total, during this time, Davenport allegedly authorized Dohn to pay over $8 million to Ballew and Ballew correspondingly paid over $4 million back to Davenport.” (Read more)
Taxpayer dollars earmarked for education spent on Miami vacation property https://t.co/8WuefRWarh
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