Newpoint Education Partners owner faces criminal charges
The owner of Newpoint Education Partners, an organization that managed public charter schools in six Florida counties including Escambia County, has been charged with racketeering and organized fraud.
Marcus May, the owner of Newpoint, is accused of misusing more than $1 million in public funds, according to a news release from the State Attorney's Office.
The state alleges May used "shell companies" he held undisclosed ownership of, or financial interest in, to sell goods and services to Newpoint-managed schools at inflated prices, then pocketed the proceeds.
Hundreds of thousands of state and county dollars meant for Newpoint schools actually went to paying portions of May and his family's property purchases, business dealings, trips abroad, household bills and even plastic surgery, a state affidavit alleges.
May could not be reached for comment Monday.
Assistant State Attorney Russell Edgar, who is prosecuting the case for the state, said May is not in custody, but that the State Attorney's Office is in communication with May's attorney.
The charges against May stem from a wider investigation of grade tampering, teacher misconduct and financial improprieties at Newpoint schools. Newpoint, as a business entity, has been charged with grand theft, money laundering and aggravated white collar crime.
Edgar said May was also charged individually because, "From the evidence, it appears he instigated this."
From 2007 to 2016, Newpoint managed 15 public charter schools in Escambia, Bay, Duval, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Broward counties. All told, the schools received more than $57 million in public funds from the state of Florida and various school districts.
The state affidavit alleges May used those public funds to buy goods and services — at extreme markups — from companies he or his business partners owned.
May created some businesses "solely to do business with Newpoint," according to the Newpoint Education Partners owner faces criminal charges:
