Iona College recovered a significant portion of the $800,000 stolen
over the last decade, according to the college president's first
statement on the theft, released today.
"Please
rest assured that the College recovered a major amount of its loss,"
the statement from the president, Brother James Liguori said.
The
statement, which was posted on the college's Web site, does not
identify who took the money, how much was taken or why the college
decided not to report the theft to law enforcement officials.
Liguori refused to answer questions in person and ends his statement with, "We have no further comment."
The Journal News reported
today that faculty sources had identified the school's chief financial
official, Sister Marie Thornton, as the employee fired last year when
the school discovered the decade-long embezzlement.
The
congregational president of Thornton's order, the Sisters of Saint
Joseph, issued the following statement today. It was from Sister Anne
Myers.
"The
Sisters of Saint Joseph are committed to a mission of unity of all
people with God and one another, therefore we hope for a just resolution
to this situation involving Sister Marie Thornton who was an employee
of Iona College."
Myers, who said she had known Thornton for several years, would not say whether she was staying at the convent in Philadelphia.
"She's in a place of rest and recovery," Myers said.
She
also would not comment on whether there was any financial arrangement
between the order and Iona over the repayment of the money.
She referred other questions to Iona.
The
school had previously revealed the theft only in a supplemental report
to its 2008 tax forms filed with the Internal Revenue Service.
Today's statement lays out a timeline for when the college learned of the theft and details some of its response.
Liguori
says that it was brought to his attention on May 26, that a senior
school official had been involved in the misappropriation of funds.
"That
senior official was immediately terminated. The College continued to
act swiftly. On June 5th, forensic accountants were brought in to
investigate allegations of waste, fraud and abuse. An exhaustive
investigation was conducted over 6 months by experts in criminal
investigations, forensic accounting and computer forensics," according
to the statement.
Iona
personnel and outside vendors were interviewed and the manner in which
the theft occurred was determined and whether other individual were
involved, the statement said.
Based on the investigation's findings, the college took steps to safeguard against more theft.
But it does not say who was responsible.
"Appropriate
personnel actions were taken in accordance with our human resources
practices. As per college policy, we do not discuss specific details of
personnel matters."
KPMG, the college's former auditor, declined to comment stating client confidentiality.
SIC: LH/USA