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LAYTON — Layton Christian Academy officials said they have fired four administrators at the school after receiving information about "financial malfeasance."
Greg Miller, head of the school; Karen Miller, an administrator; Jared Miller, secondary education principal; and Lexie Miller, a student life advisor, are members of the same family and were all terminated.
"I had no choice but to terminate Greg Miller, Karen Miller, Jared Miller and Lexi Miller," Rev. Myke Crowder, founder of Layton Christian Academy and senior pastor at the Christian Life Center, said in a letter to the Layton Christian Academy community Monday.
"They are immediately terminated from all employment and representation of Christian Life Center Church or Layton Christian Academy, Eagle Elite Sports, or any other programs related to CLC or LCA," Myke Crowder said.
In the same letter, Myke Crowder said that the school cannot release additional details on why the four administrators were fired, due to legal proceedings that are underway.
However, court documents from a lawsuit filed by the Christian Life Center Church and obtained by KSL-TV allege that the Miller family was behind a "massive fraud and potentially multi-million dollar embezzlement scheme," that involved the Millers diverting tuition money to their own business ventures.
The documents also say that Myke Crowder's son and associate pastor at the school, Chris Crowder, became suspicious of the Millers late last year after an $88,000 invoice was turned in, leading to an internal investigation.
"We did an internal investigation, and that investigation got to the point where we felt like we needed to turn it over to proper authorities," Chris Crowder said. "Regardless of how many controls you have on transactions, seems like there is always something you can get around."
Top administrators at Layton Christian Academy fired after being accused of potentially embezzling millions of dollars in what is being called a "massive fraud" operation. A sad day for the school. We have reaction @KSL5TV at 6. pic.twitter.com/eNzXOcyi9x
— Dan Rascon (@TVDanRascon) February 1, 2023
The church has filed the lawsuit to try and recoup some of the money and stop the Millers from having access to the financial records.
"If the Millers are not stopped, they could financially destroy Christian Life Center as a whole," the document said.
In a separate letter to Layton Christian Academy parents, Crowder acknowledged a lack of transparency and communication from school administrators that have caused frustration for parents.
"We recognize the lack of communication that has been happening over the past months has been difficult for many of you. It has been difficult for me to watch as the founder of Layton Christian Academy and the pastor of CLC for over 35 years," Myke Crowder said, adding that the new administrative staff will be "open and transparent."
In response to the frustration from parents, Layton Christian Academy held an "open discussion" with parents at the Children's Center Auditorium on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Crowder and Layton Christian Academy declined requests for comment Tuesday.
