Minnesota attorney general settles with Burnsville charter school over alleged misuse of funds

A Burnsville charter school has agreed to take corrective action after a state investigation found that nearly $300,000 in school funds were steered to companies owned or controlled by three of its former leaders.

In a settlement announced Friday, state Attorney General Keith Ellison said previous directors or officers of Gateway STEM Academy failed to sufficiently oversee the activities of Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, who founded the school in 2017 and since has been replaced as its executive director.

The school also failed to put in place policies and procedures that would detect and prevent conflicts of interest, the Attorney General's Office said.

"Nonprofit charter schools must use their resources to further their educational mission, not to benefit insiders," Ellison said in a news release.

In a statement Monday, Gateway said it "has and will continue to fully cooperate with the attorney general's office, including taking immediate steps to update policies and ensure compliance with all laws and rules applicable to our school."

Gateway also denied any wrongdoing by its current board of directors.

According to the Attorney General's Office, a total of about $290,000 in Gateway funds were discovered to have been paid to companies headed by two people — Mahad Ibrahim and Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff — while they were serving as Gateway board members.

"The transactions were not approved, much less discussed, by Gateway's board," the settlement agreement states. The filing also notes that Farah, Ibrahim and Shariff are defendants in the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud case.

Ibrahim and Shariff no longer serve as Gateway board members.

Gateway has agreed to work with its authorizer, Pillsbury United Communities, to investigate how the misuse of funds occurred and possibly recover the money, and to train directors and officers on their duties under state and federal law.

Ellison said in the news release he was encouraged by the cooperative spirit of the school's new leaders and expressed hope in a "strong fresh start for the school."