US News

DRAKE BOSS GOT SHOT AFTER SPOTTING BIZ-SCHOOL FRAUD

The head of the bankrupt Drake Business School uncovered millions of dollars of massive financial mismanagement before he was shot in a Queens subway – fueling speculation that the crime was organized by an insider, The Post has learned.

Drake CEO David Hart was conducting a “line by line” audit of spending at the business school’s four campuses since taking over in February.

Before he was wounded, sources said Hart had already discovered:

* Executives failed to collect $1.5 million in tuition owed by alumni.

* Bureaucratic blunders wiped out $3 million in school assets when the school switched to a new data tracking system.

* Executives leased vehicles without approval.

* An excessive level of highly paid administrators were used in a school system covering 1,000 students and 130 employees.

* The school received government tuition aid for unqualified students, a state audit uncovered.

* Some teachers were not properly licensed.

Hart had also filed a complaint with Queens DA Richard Brown that led to the arrest of comptroller Isaac Quinones, accused of stealing $40,000 from the school.

Hart was shot May 24 by an unknown gunman as he headed home to Manhattan from the school’s Astoria campus. He suffered a shattered hip and will be immobile for up to a year.

Hart told The Post that he had stumbled upon some of the financial shenanigans that left the school for low-income students broke.

“It was horrendous. This place was run into the ground. It was astonishing, serial stupidity,” Hart said.

Drake announced it was closing last Monday without prior notice to students and employees. (p.7 Metro)