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Brantley D. Thomas III, 61, stole nearly $1 million from the district and accepted kickbacks from insurance agents. He used money for a membership at a private club and for foreign travel.
Thomas started to work in 1993, oversaw all of district’s finances, including a $260 million general fund. He was one of its highest paid employees, with a salary of $130,500.
Thomas used several methods in his schemes including overpaying vendors through school district accounts. Then he was depositing refund checks into his own account.
“Material weaknesses are the worst findings that we could have,” according to Tim Grow, the partner at Elliott Davis auditing firm. “Is that bad?,” yes that’s bad. It’s very unusual for a district to have one material weakness, let alone four.” The weaknesses have been addressed through new software and policies requiring two signatures on certain expenditures, Grow said.
Thomas faces up to 300 years in prison and more than $5 million in fines. The 10 wire fraud charges each carry a penalty of up to 20 years and $250,000 fine.
So far, Thomas has repaid almost $470,000
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