Felner resigns as U W-Parkside Chancellor

This from the KenoshaNews.com:

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A University of Louisville dean hired to lead the University of Wisconsin-Parkside has resigned amid a federal criminal investigation in Kentucky.

Louisville College of Education and Human Development Dean Robert Felner was to start as chancellor of UW-Parkside in Kenosha next week. But UW System President Kevin Reilly says he accepted Felner’s resignation on Tuesday. Felner had alerted Reilly on Sunday that his college was facing an unspecified criminal investigation.

The Board of Regents approved Felner as the school’s chancellor earlier this month with a salary of $205,000.

This morning the C-J reported:

...Scott C. Cox, the attorney for Robert Felner, said the investigation is looking into an allegation that roughly $500,000 in federal grant money was mishandled.“We believe from our very preliminary investigation that he has not mishandled any funds,” said Cox, who added that Felner has “cooperated fully with federal authorities.”

...The investigation was triggered by university officials who became concerned that federal grant money may have been mishandled, Cox said. The U.S. Postal Service and U.S. Secret Service are investigating the case jointly with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he said. As part of that investigation, the agencies seized documents and a computer from Felner’s university office on Friday.

Page One Kentucky, who broke the story, is reporting and asking questions about new information ont he Feltner/U of L investigation.

After speaking with our sources, we believe that’s $500,000 in question from more than one grant. E.g., could be funds from a total of the $17million figure we gave you earlier....

Turns out the investigation is being conducted by The United States Postal Service, the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Which meshes with what we’ve heard from UofL officials.

What exactly would the USPS and Secret Service investigate? What sort of crimes do they usually handle? We know the USPS investigates everything from identity theft to child porn and money laundering when it involves the postal system. But we are not alleging anything....