Former Concord Charter School Founder And Trustee To Pay $80K Bankruptcy Settlement

CONCORD, NH — The founder and a trustee of what was Concord’s only public charter school accused of questionable disbursements and misappropriation of funds have reached an agreement with a trustee of the school in a bankruptcy filing.

Stephanie Alicea, the former founder of Capital City Public Charter School, and former trustee Caroletta Alicea, a state representative and Democrat from Boscawen, have agreed to make two $40,000 payments during the next six months to Michael Askenaizer, a trustee of the estate for the school. Both the former founder and trustee, who are daughter and mother, dispute the accusation of wrongdoing after an audit found questionable disbursements and tens of thousands of dollars in overpayments of the director’s salary and personal expenses — asserting accounting issues and problems with accounting software created the discrepancy.

In the Sept. 20 filing, the attorney said Stephanie Alicea and Caroletta Alicea “believe and are fully prepared” to go to trial and claim the financial problems with the school resulted from factors beyond their control, including funding that was delayed for months. Money loaned to Stephanie Alicea by Caroletta Alicea “far exceeds” the claimed amount, the filing said.

The pair claimed the transfer of financial information from QuickBooks Online to a desktop version of QuickBooks as well as staffing issues resulted “in a loss of data, cost characterization, and other accounting problems,” that QB Help itself “described the significant difficulties experienced by the school as ‘normal.’”

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They also said Plodzik & Sanders of Concord, auditors of the initial report, “misinterpreted the compensation arrangements” between the debtor and Stephanie Alicea, “in her opinion and that of Maloney & Kennedy,” another firm.

The auditors, however, found numerous discrepancies totaling more than $150,000 from the time the school received its first grant in January 2018 through May 2020. The auditors said QuickBooks information did not match bank records — while “extensive cash withdrawals” were made via an account debit card while transfers were also made.

Only $66,000 of the initial $223,000 first grant was used on acceptable expenses and obligations, the auditors said.

Auditors also found Stephanie Alicea paid herself nearly double the amount allowed. Excess reimbursements, insufficient documentation, and other issues were also found during the audit. Personal expenses, cash transfers, food purchases, and other unallowable charges were also reported.

“Notwithstanding the contradictory allegations of the parties,” the filing said, “rather than engaging in protracted litigation which would be very time consuming and expensive for both the trustee (Askenaizer) and defendants (the Aliceas), the parties have agreed to settle the claims asserted by the trustee in order to ‘buy peace.’ Neither plaintiff (nor) defendants admit or concede the allegations asserted by the other side, and both sides agree that is more cost-effective to settle this matter.”

Stephanie Alicea and Caroletta Alicea agreed to pay $40,000 within 60 days of the approved order and a second $40,000 payment within six months of the approved order.

According to the filing, $101,721.61 in unsecured claims were filed with unsecured general claims totaling $96,119.11. No late claims were filed. After legal fees are paid, the Internal Revenue Service will be exclusively paid for its unsecured claim, in part.

The exact amounts that will be paid to all involved were unknown at post time.

During the initial filing, about $230,000 in debts were reported by the school. The school received about $758,000 from state and federal sources across three years while educating around four-dozen students in two years of operating. The school reported about $137,000 in assets.

Vendors owed money, including the Steeplegate Mall, Unitil, Comcast, Thirty Pines, the city’s water department, and others, as well as entities involved in the case, including the New Hampshire Department of Education, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, and the IRS, were sent notifications of the agreement on Sept. 28, according to court filings. The mall, according to the filing, was owed $84,000, while the Small Business Administration was owed $81,000.

At post time, Patch could not confirm if there was a federal investigation into the misappropriation of the initial federal grant.

Stephanie Alicea and Caroletta Alicea are no strangers to court filings or proceedings, according to an investigation by Patch in February 2021, which showed a history of overdue debts and lawsuits connected to a lack of payment of services.

Stephanie Alicea has been arrested, charged, or involved in civilian complaints and violations more than two dozen times between 1998 and 2017. Most of the cases were domestic violence and stalking petitions where Stephanie Alicea was either the defendant or the plaintiff. The cases involved four men and a woman located in several communities in New Hampshire. Criminal charges, complaints, and violations included simple assault, stalking, a dog issue with New Hampshire Fish & Game, violation of a protective order in Merrimack, reckless conduct in Nashua, nonappearance in court in Franklin, and several motor vehicle infractions — including an operating after revocation or suspension charge in 2000. She also sued a man for child support and filed to have her child's name changed in court in 2001.

In July 2017, right around the time she started thinking about creating the school, Stephanie Alicea was sued in Franklin District Court by the Triangle Credit Union for defaulting on a car loan. According to the court, she borrowed $16,200 at 3.25 percent interest for a 2009 Mitsubishi Outlander from Auto Wholesalers of Hooksett. She was to make payments of about $280 across 66 monthly installments. But then, she defaulted on the terms of the agreement, and "the collateral was repossessed," according to court documents. The remaining part of the loan was $6,386.11 and attorney fees. A default judgment was made in the case about two months later, ordering Stephanie Alicea to pay $7,166.48. She was served with a court notice, and it was signed for one, the court stated. But when she failed to show up in court, an arrest warrant was issued. In May 2018, the credit union offered her to pay off the loan in monthly installments of $35, but nearly a year later, she was found in contempt of the default judgment. A letter issued in December 2019 was returned to the court, and she refused to appear in court in February 2020, according to documents.

Caroletta Alicea has also been sued in courts for various unpaid liabilities between 1993 and 2019, including two small claims with a law firm.

According to the Hooksett District Court, she was sued by Rymes Heating Oil for not paying a bill of $999.71 in October 2001. In January 2003, the court posted a paid-in-full notice. In June 2015, she was sued by Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC, a repayment debt service usually involving credit cards, for $5,988.16. According to court records, there was a paid-in-full notice in February 2019.

Caroletta Alicea was also being sued in Franklin District Court by two tenants who claimed she never returned their $1,640 security deposit. She countered that she had to hire a contractor for work that was to be done by the tenants and that they gave improper notice. The tenants also counter-sued.

Caroletta Alicea is also the co-founder and vice president of Granite Bay Care Inc. since 2007, which operates in Maine, and CEO and founder of Granite Bay Connections Inc. since the 1990s. According to online records, Granite Bay Care has been sued for fair labor standards and other issues in state and federal courts.

She chose not to run for reelection for state representative this year.

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