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3 golden objects Minnesota Legislature

Office of the Legislative Auditor - Financial Audit Division

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.

 

Office of the Legislative Auditor, Room 140, 658 Cedar St., St. Paul, MN 55155 : legislative.auditor@state.mn.us or 651‑296‑4708