London-based education company Dukes Education has emerged as the lead bidder in a court-supervised sale of The Croft School's two Boston campuses in the South End and Jamaica Plain, GBH News reported April 22.

The development comes after weeks of turmoil following the school board's March 17 disclosure that founder and executive director Scott Given had hidden roughly $13 million in debt by keeping two sets of financial records, according to the Boston Globe and GBH.

Given was suspended without pay on March 13 after the owner of a South End building sought to cash a $500,000 letter of credit tied to a planned Croft expansion into the former Foodie's Market space on Washington Street. Bank employees identified the document as fraudulent, and police were alerted to possible fraud, according to court records and school board disclosures.

A parent subsequently filed suit in Norfolk Superior Court accusing Given of operating a Ponzi-style scheme through the sale of "Croft bonds," which allegedly promised investors about 12% annual returns, the Globe reported.

Parent groups at the South End campus then organized a nonprofit, South End Village Academy, and raised funds to keep the school open through the end of the academic year, according to GBH. The Croft School serves approximately 370 students across its two Boston campuses.

The proposed sale to Dukes would not include the Providence campus, which serves an additional 220 students and whose future remains unclear. GBH reported the Boston sale is expected to close in conjunction with the end of the school year.