TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – With its financial situation up in the air, state legislators put in motion a criminal investigation against Florida A&M University.
The university’s future is in jeopardy due to a preliminary audit of its operations showing 35 instances of financial problems. While the university has proposed to form a special task force to investigate the findings, state legislators are not satisfied. Senators Ronda Storms, R-Brandon, and Jeremy Ring, D-Margate, are pushing for an audit of the university’s books. However, Senator Gwen Margolis, D-North Miami Beach, contends that the state may not have the means to conduct such a deep forensic audit.
Included in the initial findings are payroll discrepancies that led to a walkout by employees and students of the campus newspaper who hadn’t been paid for weeks. In other instances, accounting records did not match up to trustee-approved budgets. Also unaccounted for is $1.8 million in athletic department collections and some missing university property.