Report Summary
Metropolitan State University
Special Review
Employee Theft of Funds
Public Release Date: March 11, 1994 |
No. 94-08 |
Objective
We conducted a special review of allegations that a former employee of Metropolitan State
University fraudulently prepared an invoice, forged a supervisor's signature, and submitted
it for payment. We initiated our review into the allegation based on information received
from the State University System's internal audit function. Our review addressed the
following question:
- Did the employee fraudulently prepare an invoice for services not rendered and
forge her supervisor's signature on the invoice in order to receive additional
compensation?
Conclusions
We found that Colleen Erdes, a former employee of Metropolitan State University,
submitted a false invoice to the University for payment. We found that Colleen Erdes did
not perform 196 hours of service and that she acted alone in preparing and submitting the
false invoice. As a result, Metropolitan State University paid $5,096 for services it did not
receive.
On January 6, 1994, we provided copies of our documentation and conclusions to the
Hennepin County Attorney's Office for their review and possible prosecution.