Three charged with stealing $20M in 'Free College Benefit Program'

Audio By Carbonatix

(The Center Square) – An Ohio college that touted a “Free College Benefit Program” was actually illegally funded with millions in taxpayer dollars, according to indictments released Thursday.

A grand jury in Jefferson County indicted three people for stealing $20 million from Eastern Gateway Community College, a state school which has now closed, Ohio State Auditor Keith Faber said.

Michael Perik, Nicole Rowe Colclasure and Michael Geoghegan are accused of diverting Pell grants and other federal financial aid state funds through “fraudulent reimbursements and illegal incentive payments, “ Faber said Thursday.

The “Free College Benefit Program” caused the school’s enrollment to jump, Faber said. Many of the new students lived out of state and took online classes, according to the auditor.

“These public resources were supposed to help disadvantaged students in an area of the state where educational opportunities were scarce,” Faber said. “Instead, it appears these individuals took advantage of their positions, and students were left out in the cold.”

Perik is accused of using four separate for-profit companies he owned to divert money from the college. Those companies controlled attendance verification, enrollment, fees, access to financial and other “critical functions” at the college, according to Faber.

“It is a disgrace that individuals may have taken advantage of the federal student aid programs that are intended to help students access postsecondary education,” U.S. Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said in a statement Thursday. "We are proud to stand with Ohio Auditor Faber and his team to hold fraudsters accountable and protect the integrity of critical resources that millions of students and families rely on."

Gateway Community College, a public, two-year community college operating under the authority of the Ohio Department of Public Education, was closed in 2025.