Police investigate possible ‘misappropriaton of funds’ in Student Affairs
University of Missouri officials forwarded to police a case regarding “misappropriation of funds” by a former employee.
The MU News Bureau announced the move in a news release on Tuesday afternoon. Spokeswoman Liz McCune said the alleged misappropriations came from student organization accounts associated with Greek Life.
The release said the accounts are external to the school, and school officials are cooperating with MU police as they begin an investigation into whether or not a crime was committed.
“At the same time, MU is making immediate changes to the management of all external accounts affiliated with student organizations,” the news release said. “Per a directive from Interim Chancellor and Provost Garnett Stokes and Chancellor-designate Alexander Cartwright, any university employee who holds signatory authority and responsibility on an external student organization account must now receive approval from their supervisor and the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs for all their expenditures from that account. Concurrently, MU is reviewing the policies and practices for proper management and oversight of external accounts.”
The school announced major changes to the Division of Student Affairs earlier this month. The changes included eliminating several administrative positions and combining them into a new Dean of Students. The new position will oversee Greek Life, along with several other services.
MUPD Captain Brian Weimer told ABC 17 News that the department received the case around noon on Tuesday. He described the report as a fraud investigation, and said it would take some time to work. Weimer would not say whether or not the department had any of persons of interest identified.
