A University of Arizona accountant is under a fraud investigation after police said she racked up $9,000 in unauthorized charges on a school credit card.
The woman is one of two UA staff members who have come under investigation in the past few weeks on suspicion of misusing the cards, said Sgt. Eugene Mejia, a UA Police Department spokesman. Neither has been charged with a crime, so the Star is not using their names.
The accountant, who worked in the agricultural and resource economics department, paid back the debt to the university before resigning, according to a UA police affidavit.
Her boss reported the unauthorized charges to the UA Police Department on Jan. 5, according to the affidavit.
Police searched her home the next day and seized clothes; a religious book; CDs, mainly Christian-based and country music; and a Cuisinart food processor, according to search warrant documents filed in Pima County Superior Court.
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The accountant told her boss she spent the $9,000 on American Express gift cards she bought at Safeway and books, CDs and clothes she bought on Amazon.com between April 1 and July 18, according to the affidavit.
Detectives are auditing the accountant and one other employee, who worked in the journalism department.
Police have served at least one other search warrant, Mejia said.
The procurement cards are issued to some school departments to make small purchases that don't require a purchase order, Mejia said. They are intended for official use only.
About 2,000 employees have the procurement cards, said Johnny Cruz, a UA spokesman. Everyone who has a P-card must go through an application process, and each application must by approved by the employee's department head as well as the department head of the card program.
Additionally, all who are issued procurement cards must go through training before they can use them, he said.
While university policy forbids personal purchases on the cards, the university is liable for purchases. The cards do not affect the holder's personal credit, according to a university Web site.
Every transaction requires the approval by the purchaser and someone else within the department, Cruz said. There are also weekly audits to ensure that users are being compliant.
"It is hard to hide an unauthorized transaction because there is always more than one person who is aware of the purchases," he said.
Officials would not say how the employee's purchases could have gone unnoticed for such a long time.
This is at least the second publicized incident in which UA employees have been investigated on suspicion of stealing from the university over the last 12 months.
In March, a family of four was indicted on theft charges after being accused of stealing signed sports memorabilia, autographed balls and clothing, according to Star archives.
Two sons pleaded guilty, the father was placed in a diversion program that if successfully completed would allow the charges to be dismissed, and the charges against the mother were dismissed.
University police say the two incidents are not indicative of a trend.
"These are two different types of incidents, and it is really minimal when compared to the number of people we employ," Mejia said. "Any organization will see some instances of bad acts or criminal violations over time. It does not mean it is becoming a trend."
● According to a search warrant, here are some of the unauthorized items a UA accountant purchased with her university P-card:
l Two pairs of Sketcher shoes
l One pair of white Nike shoes
l Two Roxy hoodies
l Eleven Roxy shirts
l Seven Hurley shirts
l Brown Hurley skirt
l Hurley pants
l Three Billabong shirts
l Two white Lilu shirts
l Two Lilu blue denim shorts
l Lilu pants
l Two Fox shirts
l One black Nautica shirt
l One Cali shirt
l Yellow O'Neill pants
l Glo pants
l A book about God
l Twenty-nine CDs
l Cuisinart food processor
l Spice labels
