Former Cornell University Finance Administrator Indicted for Embezzlement

A former Cornell employee received two years of probation last Thursday for embezzling $20,000 from Chicago’s tourism agency where she worked from 1997 to 2006, according to local reports.

Ming Liu Bengtsson directed financial transactions for Cornell as manager for accounting from 2006 to 2009 before joining the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s College of Law in 2009 as assistant dean for finance and human resources. But before she worked for the two universities, Bengtsson had forged the signature of the Chicago Tourism Fund’s executive director and written herself a $20,000 check in August 2004, when she had access to the fund’s checking account as the project administrator at the city of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs, according to The Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette.
The inconsistent signature caught the eyes of the inspector general’s office four years later. Bengtsson was indicted last August on theft, official misconduct and forgery. These charges could land her in prison for up to seven years. Although Bengtsson first pled not guilty, she later agreed to a plea bargain and repaid the $20,000 embezzlement in court last Thursday.
Bengtsson’s employment at Illinois began on June 1, 2009 at an annual salary of $115,000, according to the university’s trustee minutes last July. She resigned from her position on Aug. 31, UI’s spokesperson told the News-Gazette last September.
Her husband, Ola Bengtsson, is a former faculty member of Cornell’s Johnson School of Management and is now assistant professor of finance at the College of Business at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, according to his personal website.
While she was at Cornell, Bengtsson also contributed at the Kuali Foundation, according to the open source administrative software’s database. Cornell contributes to the development of this non-profit organization, a former University administrator told The Sun in March 2008, and many names on its directory are affiliated with Cornell.

Outrage Over Release Of Thieving Long Island, New York School Administrator

There is outrage Friday in one Long Island community, where millions of taxpayer dollars were embezzled by its former superintendant of schools. But this anger is not about the crime that was committed – instead, it's focused on the controversial early prison release of Frank Tassone.
"He destroyed the life of people here," one resident said. "How can they let him go so fast?"
The streets of Roslyn are filled with anger as disgusted taxpayers learn their former superintendent – the man who helped orchestrate the $11 million dollar embezzlement of their school district – is about to be sprung early from state prison.
"I don't understand why the lawmakers today allow him to get out," said another Roslyn resident.
Thanks to good behavior and the completion of rehabilitation programs, the state Department of Correction will allow 63-year-old Frank Tassone to be released Tuesday. Tasson was sentenced to four to 12 years, but a his release next week would be eight months and four days earlier than his minimum sentence.
"Rehab doesn't mean anything, and you should still pay for what you did," an angry taxpayer said.
"Good behavior or not, you don't steal from a school district," said a Roslyn man.
The Nassau District Attorney, who fought the early release, says Tassone personally stole more than $2 million. He committed the thefts using district-issued credit cards for Botox treatments, cash advancements, flights to Europe on the Concorde, and expensive jewelry.
"I only hope and pray that someday the Roslyn community will remember the good I did for the district, as well as find it in their hearts to forgive me for my mistakes," Tassone said.
"It's an outrage, what he's done, and we're still paying for it in this town," one Roslyn mother said.
"He's done a disservice to students, parents, teachers all over Long Island," another Roslyn resident said.
Six people, four of whom worked for the district, pleaded guilty to the Roslyn theft.
Tassone has since repaid his $2 million, and will be placed on parole until 2018. He'll be subject to substance abuse testing and a curfew, and he is not allowed to drink, go to a bar, gamble, use a credit card, or open a checking account.
But to many in Roslyn who still feel burned by the former school administrator, that's simply not enough.
"He shouldn't be out – he should stay in there," ____ said. "He stole from us, and it's wrong."
Tassone will continue to receive his annual state pension of nearly $175,000 a year in monthly installments, as he did while in prison.
The case prompted numerous criminal investigations and state audits of all other school districts in New York, as well as new laws requiring that school board members get financial training before they serve.

NYU ADMINISTRATOR ACCUSED OF EXPENSE REIMBURSEMENT SCHEME

A New York University staffer was arraigned in Manhattan District court on December 28, 2009, facing multiple charges stemming from what authorities say was an attempt to swindle the school out of more than $400,000 by submitting discarded liquor store receipts.
John Runowicz, 47, of New York, is accused of scavenging around a local liquor store for discarded receipts and attaching them to NYU reimbursement request forms, claiming they were used for departmental purchases and "other functions."
He worked as an administrator for the NYU chemistry department and submitted requests for petty cash based on the receipts from September 2003 until January 2009, according to District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau.
Overall, prosecutors allege Runowicz's scheme involved more than 13,000 receipts over five years and ultimately conned New York University out of $409,000.
"None of those receipts reflected legitimate business expenses," said the District Attorney's Office.
Runowicz was responsible for "managing lab resources" at New York University, which involved supervision over the chemistry department's budgetary matters, expense reimbursements, and supply requests, the district attorney said. After an internal audit this past summer shed light on Runowicz's questionable activities, the university promptly fired him and turned the case over to Morgenthau's office.
NYU spokesman John Beckman said in a statement that "the university is deeply disappointed that one of its employees would abuse the trust of our students, faculty, administrators and staff in this way."