Former UofL exec pleads guilty to $2.8M theft

At least six university employees accused of stealing between 2009 - 2013

 

Financial oversight at UofL "apparently minimal."

 --unidentified IRS special agent

Am I mistaken, or did President Ramsey vow to fix this sort of thing way back in 2008?

This from the Courier-Journal:

The former director of the University of Louisville's Department of Family & Geriatric Medicine pleaded guilty to stealing $2.8 million in one of a string of thefts and embezzlements from the university.

Perry Chadwick Vaughn

Under a plea bargain, Perry Chadwick Vaughn, 36, would serve 64 months in prison and pay $2,801,201 in restitution, if Senior U.S. District Judge Charles R. Simpson imposes the recommended sentence. He set sentencing for March 12.

Vaughn showed no emotion as he pleaded guilty to seven counts of mail fraud, money laundering and filing false income tax returns, including one in 2012 on which he omitted $776,000 in income he stole that year.

An Internal Revenue Service special agent said in an affidavit last year that oversight and review of Vaughn's management of department-affiliated private practices, from which some of the money was taken, were "apparently minimal."

Vaughn is one of at least six university employees accused from 2009 to 2013 of stealing the school's money or grant funds under its control.

An independent auditor in July recommended 17 changes to improve financial controls and oversight at the university, including hiring a chief financial officer and reviewing university-associated bank accounts. Spokeswoman Cindy Hess said several already have been implemented, including hiring a CFO, and the rest will be adopted by the end of 2015.

Vaughn, who was fired by the university, pleaded guilty to money laundering for forging bogus bank statements and reconciliations to hide payments he made to his own bank accounts.

One of Vaughn's lawyers, Rob Eggert, declined to comment on Vaughn's motivations for the crime, which the government says was carried out over six years.

The Courier-Journal previously reported that Vaughn, who lives in La Grange, used the money to buy or lease nine luxury vehicles, including two Mercedes-Benzes and a Range Rover, and to pay for real estate, luxury vacations and a $9,000 necklace.

The grand jury charged that Vaughn diverted money from the department to the practice groups, then withdrew it for himself. He also was accused of making a number of misrepresentations to U of L Audit Services by transferring funds between bank accounts to conceal his theft and by providing false bank statements to the private practice groups.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Calhoun and was investigated by U of L Police, the U.S. Secret Service, the IRS and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.