A man who served as an advisor in the Obama White House has been arrested on charges of scheming to steal $218,005 from a charter school network he founded, federal authorities said Tuesday.
Seth Andrew, 42, was arrested Tuesday morning in New York City, and is due to appear in court later in the day in Manhattan federal court.
Andrew is charged with wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements to a financial institution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which is prosecuting the case.
He is the founder of Democracy Prep Public Schools, which has operated schools in Harlem in New York City, and in Camden, New Jersey.
“As alleged, Seth Andrew abused his position as a founder of a charter school network to steal from the very same schools he helped create,” said U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss.
“Andrew is not only alleged to have stolen the schools’ money but also to have used the stolen funds to obtain a savings on a mortgage for a multimillion-dollar Manhattan apartment,” Strauss said.
