Pittsburg State comments on indictment of former faculty member

  Wednesday, December 10, 2014 2:00 AM
  News

Pittsburg, KS

Pittsburg State comments on indictment of former faculty member

Pittsburg State University today issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Department of Justice’s indictment of former professor Michael Muoghalu. Muoghalu was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering as a result of actions taken while recruiting students for a Nigerian graduate exchange programs.

The indictment alleges that Muoghalu executed a scheme to defraud PSU and caused PSU to refund approximately $148,000 to Nigerian graduate exchange students. The indictment also alleges that Muoghalu “fraudulently directed students to pay a portion of their refunds to him for acting as the students’ agent in obtaining the refund.”

“Today’s indictment is an important step forward in our efforts to seek restitution for Pittsburg State,” said Chris Kelly, university spokesperson. “We continue to cooperate with authorities in their ongoing investigation.”

University officials discovered questionable financial procedures involving Muoghalu in May during an internal review. Muoghalu was placed on administrative leave on May 20, suspended without pay on June 8 and agreed to resign on September 15.

“We are taking this matter very seriously,” said Kelly. “After discovering the financial questions, we reached out to the Internal Revenue Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation to help us determine the full extent of the matter. We have been assisting them in their investigation and will continue to do so.”

Authorities allege Muoghalu’s fraudulent actions began in 2006 and involved up to 15 Nigerian graduate exchange students.

“We have every reason to believe that this incident was limited to a fraudulent financial action undertaken by one individual,” said Kelly.

University officials have obtained the services of an independent external auditor to conduct a full review of policies and procedures related to this incident.

“We secured the services of outside counsel Kyle Fleming who has hired the accounting firm BKD to perform the audit,” said Kelly. “Their audit, which began earlier this fall, is nearing completion. We are looking forward to their final report and recommendations.”

Because this is an active investigation additional questions regarding the specifics of the case should be referred to the United States Attorney’s Office in Wichita.


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