Source: The Washington Post / Getty
Washington, D.C. and one of the nation’s major HBCU – Howard University is caught up in a major, and I mean major financial scandal.
It was confirmed on Wednesday that six employees have been fired for “misappropriation of funds” in its financial aid department.
President Wayne A.I. Frederick, who I had on the WINSTON CHANEY MORNING SHOW about 2 months about gave an official statement that came 10 months after university officials learned about that misappropriation and one day after an anonymously sourced blew the whistle..
PRESIDENT FREDERICK — “I was alerted in December 2016 that there may have been some misappropriation of university-provided financial aid funds.” From the moment I was alerted that there may have been a misappropriation of funds, I have taken this situation extremely seriously.”
Frederick did not indicate how much exactly was misappropriated but sources close to the situation claim that it is somewhere in range of $!,000,000.
An outside auditor by the name of RSM was hired to investigate. They found that from 2007 to 2016, university employees who received tuition remission also received grants. The combination of these actually exceeded the total cost of attendance. RSM said that the employees pocketed the difference.
Dr. Frederick reported the problem to the Department of Education in July; and six employee were fired for “gross misconduct and neglect of duties.”
He also said: “We will refer this matter for criminal prosecution, as appropriate.”
Source: The Washington Post / Getty
