Newsweek’s former parent company was charged Wednesday by Manhattan prosecutors with carrying out a complex scheme to defraud lenders out of millions of dollars as part of an effort to keep the struggling media organization afloat.

The indictment follows a more than yearlong fraud probe by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office that has also been examining possible advertising abuses at IBT Media and its connections to Olivet University, a bible college in California, according to people briefed on the investigation.

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