Epic Charter Schools Founders Arrested on $22 Million Embezzlement Charges in Oklahoma's Largest Education Fraud

On June 23, 2022, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation arrested Epic Charter Schools co-founders Ben Harris, 46, and David Chaney, 43, along with former CFO Josh Brock, 40, on racketeering, embezzlement, and conspiracy charges related to what State Auditor Cindy Byrd called “the largest abuse of taxpayer funds in the history of the state.” The arrests culminated years of investigation into a complex criminal enterprise that prosecutors alleged defrauded Oklahoma taxpayers of more than $22 million through their management company, Epic Youth Services.

Harris and Chaney each face 15 felony counts including racketeering, embezzlement, obtaining money by false pretenses, using a computer system to execute a scheme to defraud, presenting false claims to the state, acquiring unlawful proceeds in excess of $50,000, and money laundering. The charges detail a sophisticated fraud scheme involving co-mingling of funds, excessive and unnecessary management fees, use of Oklahoma tax dollars in California, political influence buying, concealment of profits, submission of false invoices, and illegal use of employees.

The Embezzlement Scheme

Prosecutors’ review of Epic Youth Services bank accounts revealed the management company collected more than $69.3 million in fees between 2013 and 2021. Of that total, the three defendants split $55 million among themselves: Harris received $25 million, Chaney received $23 million, and Brock received more than $7 million. The OSBI press release described the operation as “a complicated criminal enterprise” involving multiple fraud mechanisms designed to extract maximum public funds while concealing the scale of personal enrichment.

Central to the scheme was the falsification of invoices to justify payments from Epic Charter Schools to Epic Youth Services, the for-profit management company headed by Harris and Chaney. Investigators found the founders enrolled “ghost students” to inflate enrollment numbers and increase state funding. They also illegally moved funds between Epic’s Oklahoma schools and an out-of-state charter school in California, violating restrictions on the use of Oklahoma taxpayer dollars.

Records show Chaney, his wife, and assistants spent $817,000 in personal expenses using credit cards charged against student Learning Funds meant for educational materials. Though he repaid some of that amount, investigators determined $377,000 remained unpaid. The credit cards funded personal vacations, luxury purchases, and other expenses having nothing to do with student education.

Buying Political Protection

A particularly troubling aspect of the scheme involved using embezzled public funds to purchase political influence. Documents released after the charges revealed that Chaney, Harris, and Brock donated $460,119 to political candidates and organizations in Oklahoma between 2014 and 2020. Recipients included Governor Kevin Stitt, State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, and State Senator Paul Rosino—the very officials with oversight authority over charter schools.

The defendants also used school funds to hire lobbyists to protect their interests at the state capitol. This created a self-reinforcing cycle where stolen public money purchased political protection that enabled continued theft. The political donations helped explain why Epic Charter Schools continued receiving state funding and authorizations despite mounting evidence of financial irregularities and multiple audits showing serious problems.

Money Laundering Through Shell Companies

To conceal the massive profits extracted from public education funds, Harris and Chaney formed a shell company called Edtech, LLC. Between 2017 and 2021, they used this entity to justify fraudulent management fees and hide the true extent of their personal enrichment. The money laundering charges reflect sophisticated efforts to create paper trails that would make illegal personal income appear as legitimate business expenses.

Audit Findings and Investigation Timeline

The fraud scheme operated for nearly a decade before arrests occurred. In 2014, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation opened a fraud investigation at Governor Mary Fallin’s request, but the probe moved slowly. In July 2019, Governor Kevin Stitt and State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister ordered an audit of Epic Charter Schools. State Auditor Cindy Byrd’s office issued subpoenas in February 2020 and sought court orders for compliance in March.

In October 2020, Byrd’s office released an audit finding Epic owed the state $8.9 million and concluded with the devastating assessment: “We cannot determine if Epic Charter Schools is entitled to the $80 million they received.” The audit revealed Epic had received approximately $80 million in state funding, but financial records were so poor and irregularities so extensive that auditors could not verify legitimate educational expenditures.

The Enrollment Inflation Scheme

At its peak in fall 2020, Epic Charter Schools claimed to serve 60,000 students, making it one of Oklahoma’s largest school districts. However, investigators discovered the founders systematically enrolled “ghost students”—children who weren’t actually receiving educational services—to inflate enrollment numbers and increase per-pupil state funding. This fraudulent enrollment boosted Epic’s state appropriations by millions of dollars annually.

Weak Charter School Oversight

The Epic fraud exposed catastrophic failures in Oklahoma’s charter school oversight system. Despite being founded in 2011 and receiving tens of millions in taxpayer funds annually, Epic operated for years with minimal accountability. The state approved massive funding increases based on self-reported enrollment numbers without adequate verification. Financial controls were so weak that a for-profit management company run by the school’s founders could extract $69 million in fees with little scrutiny.

The case demonstrated how education privatization schemes create opportunities for systematic theft of public funds. Unlike traditional public schools with elected boards and transparent budgets, Epic operated through a for-profit management structure that concealed financial details and created conflicts of interest. The founders controlled both the nonprofit charter school receiving public funds and the for-profit management company billing the school for services, allowing them to set fees and approve payments to themselves.

Legal Proceedings and Outcomes

All three defendants were booked into Oklahoma County Detention Center with $250,000 bond each. In January 2023, newly inaugurated Attorney General Gentner Drummond took control of the prosecution on his first day in office. Former CFO Josh Brock later accepted a plea deal to testify against Harris and Chaney in exchange for 15 years of probation and an undetermined restitution amount.

Despite overwhelming evidence of fraud, Harris and Chaney were fired from Epic in 2021 but the school continued operating in Oklahoma as of 2023. Students remained enrolled in an institution built on systematic theft, with no clear plan for recovering stolen funds or ensuring future accountability. The case exemplifies how education privatization creates structures where criminal fraud can operate for years while perpetrators use stolen public money to purchase political protection from prosecution.