Monday, July 28, 2014

University of Louisville gets proactive in embezzlement protection

 It was Sept. 2013 when University of Louisville President James Ramsey said he discovered the head of the Department of Family and Geriatric Medicine had stolen more than $2 million from the school.

Perry Chad Vaughan is accused of writing checks to himself from several medical practices linked to the school. Vaughn was caught when he deposited the money into a non-university account. 

"When someone breaks the law, we're going to go after them -- make it public -- and we're going to prosecute, and we've done that," Ramsey said Wednesday.

The Vaughn case prompted an audit filled with 17 recommendations on how to protect the school's finances more effectively. 

Recommendations include hiring a new Chief Financial Officer, increased vendor scrutiny and expanding employee training programs. Additionally, the Board of Trustees must approve every new University bank account. 

The audit was performed by two independent firms, Strothman & Co. and Dean Dortan Allen Ford PLLC, which conducted more than 100 interviews and visited every University college. 

Bill Meyer of Strothman and Co. said, "We believe reviews such as this would have caught some of the earlier frauds committed in this area."

UofL has dealt with at least six cases of employees accused of stealing from the school. 

Robert Felner, the former Dean of Education, was sentenced to serve 63 months in prison for stealing a half million dollars.

"We've obviously worked to strengthen the processes and make them stronger to essentially eliminate fraud and thievery," said Bob Hughes, Chairman of U of L's Board of Trustees. 

The Board of Trustees Audit Committee agreed to implement all of the audit's findings except one, where the process had already started to address change.

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