ITT Educational Services rebounds from federal probe

After rebounding from a federal criminal probe that uncovered

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston, which led the investigation into whether the Carmel-based private provider of postsecondary degree programs had falsified student records, acknowledged in June that it did not turn up evidence justifying the charges.

"It was very, very disruptive and very distracting to the organization," ITT CEO Rene Champagne said of the 16-month investigation. "What we had to do was try to get into a crisis-management mode where a select group of individuals dealt with it on a day-to-day basis."

Federal agents converged on ITT's northwest-side offices in late February 2004 searching for records related to admissions and recruitment. The district court in Houston also issued search wan-ants for ITT campuses in Texas, Virginia, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, California and Oregon.