Pittsburg State comments on sentencing of former employee
Monday, June 8, 2015 2:00 AM
News
Pittsburg, KS
Pittsburg State University today issued the following statement regarding the sentencing of former employee Michael Muoghalu in U.S. District Court. Muoghalu was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to wire fraud and money laundering in a scheme that defrauded Pittsburg State University through his administration of a Nigerian graduate exchange program. Muoghalu was ordered to pay $148,430 in restitution.
“We’re grateful for the efforts of Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Crawford County Attorney’s office in this matter,” said Chris Kelly, associate vice president for university marketing and communication. “Our attention is now focused on implementing new procedures that will help prevent these types of incidents from occurring in the future.”
To that end, university officials secured the services of accounting firm BKD in June of last year to perform an audit of the university’s foreign exchange program. The final report, which is available on the university’s website, was completed in December of 2014.
“We wanted an independent review of the program,” said Kelly. “While this review did not reveal major concerns about the program, it did indicate the need to update policies and procedures.”
A university task force is currently working to implement the recommendations. University officials will have the new policies and procedures in place by the fall.
University officials discovered questionable financial procedures involving Muoghalu in May of 2014. He was placed on administrative leave shortly after the initial inquiry and submitted his formal resignation in September of that year.
University officials sought the assistance of the IRS and the FBI to help them investigate the matter.
“We wanted to make certain we knew the full scope of this matter,” said Kelly. “Working together, we were able to bring this matter to an appropriate conclusion.”
A full copy of the BKD audit is available at www.pittstate.edu/office/president/documents/ForeignExchangePolicyReport2014.pdf