COLUMBUS, Ohio (WTVN)--Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has filed a lawsuit against former officials of the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, claiming they owe the state tens of millions of dollars.
The suit names eight defendants, including ECOT Founder William Lager, contractors for the online charter school, and others who oversaw the operation of the school.
The lawsuit alleges that officials violated the Ohio Corrupt Practices Act, and the founder violated a fiduciary duty to ECOT, which was violated when companies he had substantial interest in did business with ECOT.
The school closed in January after the State Board of Education ordered ECOT to repay the state over $60-million, over discrepancies in its attendance data for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 school years.
That closure left thousands of students scrambling to find another school right in the middle of the school year.