Ex-charter school CEO admits $70K tax fraud
Eddie Calderon-Melendez, the founder and former CEO of the beleaguered Williamsburg Charter High School and Believe High Schools Network, has pleaded guilty to receiving over $1.4 million in compensation and unreimbursed personal charges on the school’s credit card from 2005 to 2010, though he never filed a tax return and failed to pay over $70,000 in taxes.
Nearly all of Calderon-Melendez’s compensation during the covered period came, directly or indirectly, from taxpayer-funded charter schools.
As a result of the plea, he admitted to an E felony for repeated failure to file his NY tax returns and will have to pay back all of the taxes he owes, which amounts to over $200,000 including penalties and interest. The New York State Attorney General’s Office also recommended a sentence of incarceration. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 22.