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Okla. District Being Probed for Misuse of Funds

By The Associated Press — December 01, 2015 1 min read
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A small Oklahoma school district is under investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Education’s inspector general for the alleged misappropriation of at least $235,000 over a five-year period.

What’s more, Broken Arrow-based accounting firm Sanders, Bledsoe, and Hewett faced questions from the state board of education about audits that it made at the Swink school district. The firm is responsible for auditing nearly one-fourth of Oklahoma’s public school districts.

State officials believe the case involves abuse of district fuel cards, falsified checks, forgery, and the use of public dollars to purchase alcohol, tobacco, video games, and other items for personal use.

Education department officials questioned how the company gave Swink clean audits with no reported findings, recommendations, or exceptions over the five-year period.

A version of this article appeared in the December 02, 2015 edition of Education Week as Okla. District Being Probed for Misuse of Funds

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