INDIANAPOLIS — A former Indianapolis public charter school system CEO was charged with fraud after reportedly stealing more than $1 million.
Brian Metcalf, the former CEO of Tindley Accelerated Schools, was charged with nine counts of fraud. Kimberly "Tate" Maddox and James Darnell Campbell were also charged with four counts and five counts of fraud respectively. According to court documents, they "knowingly devised, intended to devise, and participated in a scheme to defraud and to obtain money."
This cycle of reported intentional fraud from Metcalf continued from October 2018 to August 2022.
The scheme reportedly began at an unidentified non-profit in Chicago, where Metcalf was employed as the Managing Director of the Impact Department from June 2018 to July 2019. The alleged fraud continued as he worked as the CEO of Tindley Accelerated Schools from July 2019 to Dec. 2022.
According to court documents, in June 2018 Maddox submitted invoices for goods and services to Metcalf that he did not provide nor intend to provide. After Maddox submitted fraudulent invoices, Metcalf caused his employer to pay those invoices. After receiving the money, Maddox gave a portion to Metcalf.
Maddox would pay Metcalf in cash or through CashApp and he would allegedly use the money to pay for personal things such as a trip to the casino, renovations of his home and bills.
Campbell, an accountant for Maddox, learned of the scheme of Maddox and Metcalf and reportedly suggested a similar scheme to defraud the public charter school system that serves children in kindergarten through 12th grade. The school scheme began around May 10, 2021, and continued until approximately Aug. 1, 2022, police allege.
According to court documents, Maddox and Campbell never provided any of the goods and services promised in the invoices.
If convicted, the defendants would be required to forfeit any property derived from proceeds traceable to the offense as well as pay the following amounts:
- Metcalf would be required to pay approximately $1,010,700.
- Maddox would be required to pay $365,700.
- Campbell would be required to pay $400,000.
The Board of Directors from Tindley Accelerated Schools said the following in a statement:
“On Tuesday, December 12, federal prosecutors in the Northern District of Illinois unsealed an indictment of our former CEO, Dr. Brian Metcalf, who is being charged with fraud. Tindley was one of two victims defrauded by the alleged criminal enterprise, and we will seek restitution.
For one year, since December 2022, when the Board accepted the former CEO’s immediate resignation, we have actively cooperated in law enforcement’s investigation, as well as undertaken our own investigation to determine how our organization was affected by his actions. Federal law enforcement requested that we not share information until their investigation was complete.
In addition to fully cooperating with federal authorities, we hired the law firm of Ice Miller and a forensic accounting firm to conduct an independent investigation to understand the facts of the situation, assess our internal processes and procedures, and implement additional safeguards. From the investigation, which included discussions with prosecutors, we have no reason to believe that any other Tindley representatives were involved in the alleged fraudulent acts.
We appreciate the work of the investigators and U.S. Attorney’s office for seeing this through to prosecution, and we will be unable to answer questions outside of what is contained in this communication.
Should you receive any inquiries from the media, please refer them to Dr. Harris or Hilary Buttrick, Tindley Board Chair.
We were pleased to hire Dr. Harris as our new Network President earlier this year, and we are confident that under his leadership, we will continue to deliver superior educational opportunities to our scholars, just as we have for the past 20 years.
Regards,
Tindley Board of Directors
A spokesperson from the Office of Education Innovation said the following in a statement:
"The Tindley Accelerated Schools Board of Directors notified OEI of the allegations and has maintained communication throughout this process. The former CEO is no longer affiliated with the schools.”
Office of Education