How Epic Charter Schools Founders Allegedly Stole From Oklahoma's Children—And Bought Political Protection
OKLAHOMA CITY — For nearly a decade, David Chaney and Ben Harris ran Oklahoma's largest virtual charter school like their personal piggy bank. They allegedly pocketed $55 million in taxpayer money meant for educating 30,000 children. They spent it on political campaigns, personal credit cards, and a California charter school. When a state auditor exposed them, they spent hundreds of thousands more trying to destroy her career.
Four years after their arrests, they still haven't gone to trial.
The Epic Charter Schools scandal is the largest education fraud in Oklahoma history. It reveals how political corruption, weak oversight, and a decade of inaction allowed two men to build an empire on stolen education dollars—and nearly get away with it.
THE SCHEME
How to Steal $55 Million
The mechanics of the alleged fraud were surprisingly simple. Chaney and Harris founded Epic Charter Schools in 2011 and quickly built it into Oklahoma's largest virtual school district. But the real money wasn't in educating children—it was in the private management company they controlled.
Epic Youth Services, their for-profit company, collected $69.3 million in management fees between 2013 and 2021, according to prosecutors. Of that, the three men—Chaney, Harris, and their chief financial officer Josh Brock—split $55 million among themselves.
Harris took $25 million. Chaney took $23 million. Brock, who managed the books, took $7 million.
The money was supposed to pay for managing a school. Instead, according to testimony from Brock—who is now cooperating with prosecutors to avoid prison—the men used shell companies and false invoices to hide their profits from state regulators.
"The Legislature would bludgeon us if they knew how much money we were making," Harris allegedly told state auditors, according to Brock's testimony.
The Double Shell Game
Worried their records might become public, Chaney and Harris created a second company called EdTech, Brock testified. This added an extra layer between the public school money and their personal accounts.
But the real innovation was what they did with the Student Learning Fund. This account was supposed to be dedicated to students—laptops, educational materials, extracurricular activities. Epic Youth Services controlled it, and according to investigators, instead of returning unspent funds to the school, they kept the money.
State auditors calculated $817,000 in personal purchases charged to credit cards that were supposed to be for educational expenses. Chaney made only $377,000 in payments to cover those charges.
Where did the rest of the money go?
BUYING PROTECTION
The Political Machine
Between 2014 and 2020, Chaney, Harris, and Brock donated nearly $2.4 million to Oklahoma political campaigns and political action committees.
The direct candidate donations totaled $460,119. The biggest recipient was State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister, who received $52,138. Governor Kevin Stitt got $10,800. Attorney General Mike Hunter got $15,236. Former Governor Mary Fallin received $12,500.
But the real money went to political action committees—nearly $1.9 million in total:
• Prosperity Alliance Inc.: $774,500
• Capitol Gains: $520,000
• Conservatives for a Great Broken Arrow: $450,000
• INIT 2 LLC: $85,120
• Vote Safe: $25,800
According to court documents filed by prosecutors, some of these donations were paid with Chaney's American Express card—which was itself partially paid from the Student Learning Fund that was supposed to be for children's education.
Buying Friendly Legislators
The timing of some donations raises questions. State Senator Paul Rosino received a $5,600 donation—the maximum allowed by law—just two days after State Auditor Cindy Byrd released her damning audit of Epic in October 2020.
Shortly after, Rosino introduced legislation that would have limited the State Auditor's authority, controlled how auditors reported their findings, and significantly cut their funding.
Brock testified that Epic Youth Services used their EdTech shell company to pay political consultants to recruit candidates to run for office. One of those candidates was State Senator Shane Jett, who defeated former Senator Ron Sharp in 2020—one of Epic's most vocal critics in the legislature.
THE REVENGE CAMPAIGN
Targeting the Auditor
When State Auditor Cindy Byrd released her investigative audit in October 2020, it was devastating. She called it "the largest abuse of taxpayer funds in the history of this state." She said Epic's founders refused to disclose how $145 million in taxpayer money was spent over six years.
Epic cut ties with Chaney, Harris, and Brock in May 2021. But the founders weren't done fighting.
On June 8, 2022—just two weeks before they were arrested—Chaney and Harris each donated $187,500 to a previously dormant federal political action committee called Protect Our Freedoms. The PAC had been formed ten months earlier but had received zero donations until that moment.
Within nine days, Protect Our Freedoms dispersed $581,000 to two other PACs: American Values First ($300,000) and Truth PAC ($281,000). Both were run by the same political consulting firm.
The money funded a massive attack campaign against Cindy Byrd in her Republican primary race for reelection. TV ads, radio spots, and mailers flooded the state supporting her unknown opponent, Steve McQuillen, who ran no campaign of his own.
More than $500,000 in Epic money was spent trying to defeat the auditor who exposed them.
Byrd won with 70% of the vote—the highest statewide margin in the Republican primary.
"It was about getting our story out there, our side of the story and retribution," Brock testified. "The audit led to the breakup of the school and Epic Youth Services. The audit did us no favors from a business standpoint."
A political consultant involved in the campaign was more direct. He said he was told the motivation was simple: "Defeat Cindy Byrd."
JUSTICE DELAYED
A Decade of Investigation
The warning signs appeared early. Epic had been in operation for only three years when then-Governor Mary Fallin requested the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation look into allegations of fraud in 2014.
The investigation remained in the "investigation stage" for a decade.
During those ten years, teachers filed wrongful termination lawsuits alleging they were fired for refusing to manipulate enrollment numbers. A state senator who tried to sound the alarm was sued by Epic for defamation. The school continued to grow, becoming the largest district in Oklahoma at its peak.
Chaney, Harris, and Brock were finally arrested in June 2022, charged with 14 felonies each: embezzlement, conspiracy, fraud, and racketeering under Oklahoma's RICO statute.
Then the delays began.
The Two-Year Preliminary Hearing
What should have been a straightforward preliminary hearing turned into a procedural odyssey. The hearing began in March 2024 but stalled after defense attorneys sought to remove the trial judge. Multiple courts rejected the effort, but the judge stepped down anyway.
The hearing resumed in February 2026—nearly two years after it started. Over eight days of testimony, the judge heard from OSBI investigators, Epic staff, state auditors, and Josh Brock, who had agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for probation instead of prison.
On April 30, 2026, Special Judge Jason Glidewell ruled that prosecutors had presented enough evidence for most charges to proceed to trial. He dismissed a few counts but allowed the core racketeering and embezzlement charges to stand.
The judge rejected the defense's central argument: that once public school funds were paid to their private company, the money became private and couldn't be embezzled. Glidewell wrote that public education funding "remained public until it fulfilled its 'benevolent purpose.'"
Chaney and Harris are scheduled for arraignment on June 24, 2026—four years after they were arrested. This will be their first opportunity to enter a plea.
An actual trial could be years away.
Meanwhile, a confidential Internal Revenue Service investigation continues.
THE VICTIMS
The Budget Crisis Left Behind
While Chaney and Harris fight criminal charges, Epic Charter Schools and its 30,000 students are living with the consequences of their alleged fraud.
In October 2024, the school announced it was facing a massive budget shortfall. Enrollment had come in 4,000 students below projections. Epic laid off 144 employees and cut pay across the board.
Those cuts weren't enough. In June 2025, Epic laid off another 357 staff members—83 teachers and 274 administrators. The school closed multiple in-person learning centers, slashed programs, and phased out its learning center model entirely.
Total job losses: 501 employees in less than a year.
To avoid insolvency, Epic took out a $30 million line of credit just to cover obligations during the summer months when public schools receive no state funding. The school's superintendent and deputy superintendent of finance both resigned amid the crisis.
A forensic investigation commissioned by the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board found "financial mismanagement and leadership failures" caused the budget crisis. The audit found Epic had been operating "without basic budgeting and oversight controls" and made decisions based on "highly questionable projections."
The Enrollment Collapse
Epic's enrollment tells the story of a school that couldn't survive its founders' scandal. When COVID-19 hit in 2020, Epic swelled to 60,000 students—the largest enrollment in Oklahoma.
By 2024, that number had collapsed to 30,000. Half the students were gone.
The school blamed the influx of COVID relief funds for giving them a "false sense of security." When federal pandemic aid ran out, they had more programs and staff than they could afford. But the enrollment decline started long before the money ran out—it began when the scandal broke.
THE SYSTEMIC FAILURE
How Did This Happen?
The Epic Charter Schools scandal didn't happen in a vacuum. It required failures at multiple levels of Oklahoma government.
OSBI opened an investigation in 2014 but didn't make arrests until 2022—eight years later. During that time, according to prosecutors, Chaney and Harris continued to embezzle millions.
The Oklahoma Department of Education provided minimal oversight. Epic's board made financial decisions with virtually no accountability. When State Auditor Cindy Byrd finally conducted a deep investigation in 2020, she found an accounting system "preoccupied with school district compliance" but with "little to no verification of the information they report."
Epic's political donations may have helped insulate the school from scrutiny. More than 50 state legislators received contributions from Chaney, Harris, and Brock. The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board president who led termination proceedings against Epic was removed from his position by Governor Stitt in November 2020—just a month after Byrd's audit was released.
The Ethics Problem
Former State Auditor Gary Jones, who preceded Byrd in office, filed an ethics complaint against Epic's founders and the political consultants who helped them. At a press conference at Republican Party headquarters, Jones blamed members of his own party for creating the conditions that allowed Epic's scheme to flourish.
"The Legislature has gutted ethics," Jones said. "I'm ashamed to say they're Republicans—or people who claim to be Republicans."
Looking at Epic's political contributions, Jones drew a stark conclusion: "You follow the dots, and it's a direct line. Now we know for certain it's not individuals giving money. It's our own tax dollars."
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
Chaney and Harris maintain their innocence. Their defense team argues the Student Learning Fund was private money that their company owned, not public funds that could be embezzled.
That argument failed at the preliminary hearing. It will likely be tested again at trial—whenever that happens.
Josh Brock has already pleaded guilty and agreed to 15 years probation as a convicted felon. He will pay restitution and cooperate with prosecutors. His testimony will be crucial if the case ever reaches a jury.
Attorney General Gentner Drummond has vowed to see the case through. "This is a decisive ruling, and the defendants should take note: their attempts to escape accountability have failed," he said after the preliminary hearing. "We will not be deterred. The facts will come out, and justice will be served."
But for the 30,000 students still enrolled at Epic Charter Schools, justice delayed is education denied. The school they attend is operating on borrowed money, with skeleton staff, and a budget still reeling from the damage done by the men who allegedly stole $55 million from their education.
The teachers who lost their jobs—501 of them—have moved on or are still looking for work.
The taxpayers who funded Epic's growth have no clear path to recovering the money allegedly stolen from them.
And the politicians who took Epic's money? Most of them donated it to charity—after they got caught.
BY THE NUMBERS
$69.3 million — Total management fees collected by Epic Youth Services, 2013-2021
$55 million — Amount allegedly split among Chaney ($23M), Harris ($25M), and Brock ($7M)
$145 million — Amount Epic founders refused to disclose to state auditors over six years
$460,119 — Direct campaign donations to Oklahoma candidates, 2014-2020
$1,855,420 — Donations to political action committees
$500,000+ — Spent attacking State Auditor Cindy Byrd in 2022 primary election
60,000 — Peak student enrollment during COVID pandemic (2020-21)
30,000 — Current student enrollment (2024-25)
501 — Employees laid off during 2024-25 budget crisis
$30 million — Line of credit Epic required to avoid insolvency
10 years — Time OSBI investigation remained in "investigation stage" before arrests
4 years — Time between arrests (June 2022) and scheduled arraignment (June 2026)
14 — Felony counts each defendant originally faced
12 — Felony counts Chaney and Harris now face after preliminary hearing
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