A former UW-Madison employee allegedly stole over $100,000 from the Division of University Housing, university officials said Thursday.
The former UW-Madison Housing employee allegedly stole over $100,000 in cash and property from the university for over a two-and-a-half-year period, an internal investigation from the division of housing revealed.
According to director of University Housing Jeff Novak, the division became aware of the former employee’s suspected criminal activity in early 2017 and immediately reported it to UW-Madison Police.
“The behavior in this case is deeply concerning to us and is not representative of the Housing Division and its employees,” Novak said in a press release. “Any abuse of the resources entrusted to us by our residents, guests and the university cannot be tolerated.”
UW-Madison spokesperson John Lucas said the fraud was identified when housing employees found evidence of property theft and “irregularities in purchasing card behavior” by the alleged culprit.
In the months following the discovery of the fraud, University Housing and the Division of Business Services hired an outside auditor to proactively review all related business practices and help establish new financial controls in hope of preventing these kinds of abuses in the future.
While the statement did not explain the fraud, it did say the university's Division of Business Services "initiated several changes to campus procedures and control practices for purchasing cards and receipt policies."
UWPD have recommended felony charges against the former employee to the Dane County District Attorney's Office. UWPD spokesperson Marc Lovicott told The Daily Cardinal UWPD has know about the theft for over a year.
Lovicott said UWPD is currently investigating the case and that no arrests have been made.
