Chicago companies ordered to repay $200K

BISMARCK, N.D. -- Two Chicago businesses accused of using a North Dakota Indian reservation school to bilk the federal government have been ordered to repay more than $200,000.

Global Networking Technology and Computer Training and Associates were indicted last October, along with owners Tyrone Pipkin and Gloria Harper. The U.S. attorney's office says they pleaded guilty to mail fraud this week and were ordered to repay $241,000.

A notice of the plea agreement was filed last month.

Authorities say the companies install computer and Internet upgrades for schools that get federal grants. The companies were accused of persuading the Twin Buttes School District on North Dakota's Fort Berthold reservation to agree to unnecessarily large contracts for communications improvements.