At a Stony Brook Graduate Student Organization meeting held in the Wang Center on 14 February 2006, Graduate School Dean Dr. Lawrence Martin reported the results of an audit of GSO finances conducted by Stony Brook University's Department of Internal Audits. As a result of the investigation, two former executives, Rong Su (G.S.O. Treasurer 2003-2005) and Venkat Reddy Pasham (G.S.O. Secretary 2003-2004), were charged with misappropriating G.S.O. funds between 2003 and 2005.
Warrants for Ms. Su and Mr. Pasham were issued and Ms. Su has been taken into custody. There were also other Stony Brook students being charged with student misconduct, "for coming into payments [they were] not entitled to [receive]," according to Dr. Martin. These students have been sent to the university's Student Judiciary to resolve these charges. Because the accused are students and have not been criminally charged, their names may not be released. According to Dr. Martin, these criminal charges could lead to imprisonment or possibly deportation for both students because they are foreign.
It is in the power of the Graduate School Dean, Stony Brook University, New York State, or even the G.S.O. itself to request an audit of G.S.O. finances, according to current G.S.O. treasurer, Anirban Dutta. Audits on the G.S.O. have been requested in the past, generally by the Graduate School Dean. This was the first time criminal charges have come from an audit during Dr. Martin's thirteen years as Dean of the Graduate School. About thirty illegal or questionable transactions were performed during 2003 and 2005 while Ms. Su was the G.S.O. Treasurer. The transactions ranged from tens of dollars to $1000 and totalled about $5000. The kinds of transactions in question varied from R.A.P. reimbursements to reimbursements for questionable meals or items. The transactions normally must be signed by two G.S.O. executives, but in these instances, there appeared to be only one signature or the signatures were illegible. Dr. Martin also noted that restitution of the funds would be unlikely.
Dr. Martin observed that this problem appears to have arisen from a lack of stable checks and balances on the G.S.O. executives. He also admitted that constraints would make allocations of G.S.O. funds bureaucratically painful. Dr. Martin has asked Doug Panico, the head of the Internal Audits Department, to give him suggestions on how to protect the G.S.O. from similar situations in the future.
The G.S.O. senate briefly discussed the report by Dr. Martin, and it was asked whether the G.S.O. should release a statement on this matter or whether the public release of this information should be postponed until more conclusions are made. There was no resolution or motion passed on this line of discussion.
By Shawn Pottorf
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Note: No current G.S.O. executives of 2005-2006 are implicated in this scandal.
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