April 20, 2010
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News: More CC Abuse For Floridians
During recent weeks, Florida residents have been listening to the alleged credit card abuse of the state's republican party officials. Just when things began to simmer down, another scandal has surfaced involving state funds. A state audit indicated possible credit card abuse among five Florida universities. According to the audit, a professor at the Florida International University abused one of the school's credit cards to purchase over $5,000 in personal expenses. Details of the transactions in question were not released; however, it was noted that criminal charges were issued.
According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, an Administrative Assistant from the University of Florida also abused the university's credit card. The report indicated that the woman purchased several Weight Watchers books and claimed they were books relating to a World War II project. Criminal charges were issued in this case as well. The audit also revealed fraudulent and abusive credit card practices in three other Florida universities; Florida Atlantic University, The University of South Florida, and Florida State University. The alleged possible abusive charges were not detailed; however, the authorities believe that excessive credit limits and terminated employee's cards that did not get canceled, led to a large portion of the abusive charges.
In an interview with the Sun-Sentinel, James D. Ratley, President of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, said that credit card abuse has become more prevalent during the difficult economic times. He also said corporate and government issued cards are more convenient. Organizations have made it easier for employees to abuse corporate cards by their widespread existence making it very difficult to manage. It appears the results of the state audit revealed some of the weaknesses in the systems of the Florida universities that are most likely present in universities across the country. The Sun also reported that according to a survey by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners revealed that over 55 percent of the 500 respondents reported that their company had experienced increased fraud during the past year.