Restored iPad - Can't get Apple ID

Here's a good one.

A non-IT person set up the company's iPads years ago.

Dumb Move #1: They set up the apple ID xxxx@me.com and set the alternative email as the same.

Dumb Move #2: No one knows who set up the account. Whomever did it is long gone and we don't know the personal question answers.

Dumb Move #3. The ipad got so screwed up that it was restored back to factory default. It now requires the original apple ID and password to get past the startup screens. There is no way of accessing it.

Any words of wisdom? I can't consider the iPad junk due to a stupid password situation.

If I get a hold of it and do a full wipe back to factory default, can I bypass putting in wirless and then switch the apple ID to a new one? Or will I always have some sort of problem because apple sees the device as belonging to that old ID?