Audit Accuses Wright State University Employees of Stealing Nearly $95,000 in Public Funds
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From the Dayton Daily News:
More than $94,800 is missing or was illegally spent by employees of Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine through personal purchases, duplicate or fictitious claims for cash or gift cards for medical study participants and in petty cash withdrawals, according to a state audit released Thursday.
Most of the that money was taken by employees working on federal studies of drug use among young adults and on federally funded projects addressing substance abuse, HIV/AIDs testing and treatment, and other areas, according to the audit.
The employees were authorized to give participants in health studies cash and gift cards. The state auditor says they created two receipts for the same interviews and created receipts for interviews that never took place.
On top of the missing funds that can be traced to individual employees, another $49,780 worth of gift cards purchased by the Boonshoft School of Medicine is missing. Auditors can’t tell who exactly is responsible for that loss.
Wright State Physicians, a practice staffed by Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine faculty, repaid the entire amount, according to the state auditor. Wright State Physicians has nearly 130 doctors and calls itself “the largest physician managed multi-specialty group in the Dayton region.”
State Auditor Dave Yost said in a written statement that the main problem was that Wright State didn’t do a good job of controlling its cash:
“Much of accounting can be boiled down to competent control of the cash,” Auditor Yost said. “There is no reason for our state universities, especially the professional schools that set the standards of good conduct, to risk these kinds of losses of public funds.”
The case has been referred to county prosecutors for investigation, the Daily News reports.
The employees named in the audit are:
- David Raines – Director of Information Technology in Student Affairs and Admissions
- Todd Mathias – Research Intervention Interviewer for Community Health
- Edward Walker – Outreach Worker for Community Health
- Tiffani Richardson – Prevention Educator for Community Health
- Ronald Dixon – Research Technician for Community Health
- Williams Long – Research Program Assistant 1 for Community Health
- Ray Gaddis – Project Manager for Community Health
“Three others are still employed and were not reprimanded because the university found “there was nothing to indicate criminal activity,” according to spokesman George Heddleston.