September 29, 2010
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News: LA Administrator Is Latest To Cheat Taxpayers
The Baton Rouge District Attorney joins the forces across our nation in fight against abusive credit card spending of agencies supported by taxpayers' dollars. After the release of a Legislative Audit, the District Attorney is considering criminal charges against the former head of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) related to abusive credit card transactions. Tommy Henry was with the association for over 24 years and directed all Louisiana high school athletics. According to the audit report, Henry charged over $13,000 on the school district's credit card on what appears to be personal expenses. Card charges included transactions for the purchase of men's suits, shirts, sports coats, pants, and ties for which Henry admitted to as being items for personal use.
The questionable credit card transactions were found during a two year legislative audit which only covered a two year period. At this time, it is not known what Henry might have spent in previous years. During that two year period, Henry had a total of 2,355 transactions on the association's credit card totaling $383,073; most of which had not documentation. The lack of documentation means that it is possible that more charges could be for personal expenses in addition to the obvious $13,000 that Henry acknowledged. Some of the expenses included $51,614 for cigars, $16,234 on travel, $13,058 on clothing, $20,694 in golf fees, and $29,565 in meals. The $16,234 was for two trips to Chicago during the 2005 and 2006 Christmas holidays which average $700 a night for lodging. According to Henry, the trips were to meet with representatives of Gatorade; however, he could not show proof that any appointment had been scheduled.
The Louisiana High School Athletic Association is funded through membership fees and ticket sales to state championship events. The association responded to the news by saying that although it is a non-profit organization, it does not funded with taxpayer dollars. Henry responded to the audit by saying that he is not a state employee. Furthermore, Henry said that he followed all the credit card use guidelines of the association.