Arkansas may sue Ecclesia College to reclaim kickback-tainted grants

LITTLE ROCK -- Arkansas' attorney general is considering a request to sue a private Christian college to reclaim at least $600,000 of kickback-tainted grants the college received from state funds.

The Department of Finance and Administration wrote a letter to Attorney General Leslie Rutledge's office Sept. 7 regarding a kickback case involving Ecclesia College, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

"It appears that a significant portion, if not all, of these funds were procured in coordination with criminal activity that has been and is being prosecuted by the United States attorney's office," the letter stated.

Micah Neal was a state representative serving with then-Sen. Jon Woods when steering state General Improvement Fund grants to the college in 2013 and 2014. The college's then-president, Oren Paris III, passed kickbacks to Woods and Neal through consultant Randell G. Shelton Jr.

Read more: http://www.hotsr.com/news/2018/sep/15/arkansas-may-sue-ecclesia-college-to-re/