FAYETTEVILLE -- A member of the governing board for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences described with alarm a lack of oversight for purchases made by the school's approximately 800 employees authorized to use fuel cards.
An audit report made public by the University of Arkansas System on Friday described $6,188 in unauthorized charges made on a fuel purchasing card, with an employee terminated in March for "gross misconduct."
Internal auditors stated in their report that UAMS lacked a policy for use of the fuel cards.
"Who dropped the ball? That's a large mistake to me," Mark Waldrip, a member of the University of Arkansas board of trustees, said during a meeting Thursday.
Bill Bowes, the university's senior vice chancellor for finance and administration, said UAMS "immediately made some very quick changes to address some of the problems."
Bowes said he couldn't say who was to blame, adding that a comprehensive policy for fuel card usage has been drafted. The report by auditors recommended having a policy in place that aligns with an already existing state policy.
Bowes said he thought those responsible at UAMS were assuming that the state policy was being followed.
A UAMS analyst went to campus police in February after spotting "a large decrease in amount of fuel funds available," the audit report states. A review showed a "significant increase" in fuel obtained on one card linked to a passenger van used by the UAMS Radiation Oncology Center.
In March, a UAMS official notified Arkansas Legislative Audit and requested an internal audit, the report states.
As part of their review, auditors randomly selected 25 fuel purchases and found that nine lacked receipts. The report recommended that supervisors "review and reconcile fuel card receipts to vehicle logs" on at least a monthly basis.
UAMS has 96 fleet vehicles in various locations around the state, said Leslie Taylor, UAMS vice chancellor for the office of communications and marketing.
The new comprehensive policy for UAMS is estimated to be in place by the end of November, the report states.
The report describes an arrest warrant issued for the employee linked to unauthorized purchases. He was named in the audit report, but a Pulaski County prosecutor in August dropped the fuel card case.
"We can prove it was used, we can prove how much it was used for and the purchases. The problem is proving he was the person who actually used the card in that fashion," said John Johnson, chief deputy prosecuting attorney for Pulaski County, in a phone interview.
Metro on 09/09/2017