Michael Barker was the maintenance director for Boone County public schools but now he has been indicted on 18 counts for allegedly stealing approximately $3.4 million from the school district.
Barker put in orders for school maintenance supplies though a company owned by alleged co-conspirator, Jesse Marks. That company is listed as Rush Enterprises, a Kentucky company with an office in Kenova West Virginia.
However the school system supposedly only received a fraction of those orders, the rest of the money was split and pocketed by the duo. For example, the criminal indictment stated that the Boone County Board of Education put in an order for 4,993 cases of hand soap, but only received 829 cases.
The indictment states that Barker received over $2 million in the scheme.
United States Attorney Will Thompson said Barker used the allegedly stolen money to make extravagant purchases.
“My prior role as a judge and in my role as a father, I’ve seen the struggles our children face in the school system, and this one’s a hard one to watch,” Thompson said.
Barker’s alleged co-conspirator, Marks, has not been indicted. When asked about why Marks has not been indicted yet Thompson said “With respect to Mr. Marks, I want to say, stay tuned. I’m not going to answer any further than that.”
