Grambling Audit Woes Won’t Result in Charges
Grambling State University and state auditing officials are calling the inadvertent investment of more than $2 million in restricted institutional funds “administrative oversight,” and charges will not be filed against the institution for the action or resulting depreciation of the stocks, which were revealed in a recently-published 2009 audit report.
Between 2002 and 2004, funds allocated for facility management at GSU were made available to an investment firm hired by the university and used for stock purchase. In 2009, in the midst of plummeting value across the financial landscape, the purchases lost an estimated $900,000 in stock value. Since that time, Grambling has ceased the practice of stock investment and transferred the holdings into lower-risk securities – just one of the new measures put into place under newly-hired president Dr. Frank Pogue and endorsed by the Louisiana State Legislative Auditor’s Office. From the Monroe News-Star:
“None of this was serious enough for us to send for prosecution,” said Tom Cole, director of financial audits for the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office.
“They are making efforts to improve the control structure at Grambling.”
The audit in question was a review of financial standing under the tenure of former GSU president Horace Judson, ending in June of 2009. As of March 2010, the shares invested by the university were valued at $1.9 million – a $400,000 increase over the one-year period. Grambling has also ended its relationship with the investment firm which managed the university’s portfolio during the period in question.
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