Chicago School Board Sues Former CEO

CHICAGO, IL - The Chicago Board of Education seeks to be paid millions by the now jailed CEO who plead guilty to accusations she helped steer several no-bid contracts to former employers and got a cut of the money.

The board filed a lawsuit against Barbara Byrd-Bennett recently seeking more than $65 million in damages, according to the Chicago Tribune. Wilmette-based SUPES Academy - Byrd-Bennett’s former employer who was steered a $20 million no-bid contract - was also named in the suit as was Synesi Associates, another firm allegedly involved.

"In plain terms, Defendants have stolen money from Plaintiff and the schoolchildren of the City of Chicago, and that money should be returned," the school board wrote in the suit.

Byrd-Bennett and other defendants "have used and are continuing to use public funds fraudulently obtained from Plaintiff to pay multiple law firms to defend them in their efforts to avoid the consequences of their wrongful conduct, to hire lawyers to insist that Defendants' ability to pay be kept secret from public scrutiny, and to provide sources of funds to pay criminal penalties as part of hoped-for concessions in plea agreements and sentencing."

Byrd-Bennett, who served as chief of Chicago Public Schools from 2012 to 2015, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in October. She awaits sentencing for her part in the scheme.

More via the Chicago Tribune