VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — A new state audit into the Volusia County School District obtained by Channel 9 shows background checks not done on time and hundreds of thousands of dollars being sent to unverified bank accounts.
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The audit, done by the state of Florida, also shines a line on allegations of missing money lost as part of a scam and issues with some inventory.
A vendor told the district the district’s payments were not going to one of its authorized accounts that led to DeLand police launching its own investigation to what it believes may have been an overseas scam.
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District personnel not always verifying vendor bank accounts resulted in $359 sent to the wrong account.
The audit also found about 5% of employees did not have background checks done in a timely manner.
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The audit goes on to say the district did not do its required inventory or obtained board approval before getting rid of $200,000 in personal property like furniture, equipment and cars.
The district sent a response letter stating it’s enhanced its vendor payment process and procedures to include independent verification and vendor information.
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In a statement, the school district said:
“Volusia County Schools, like many other organizations, had a security breech. The incident was properly reported to the authorities and our board. The losses were substantially covered by insurance. Changes to our processes and staff were made to ensure that future risks were minimized. The auditor general is obligated to report the incident in our annual audit report, and we take the findings and recommendations very seriously. We have discussed this matter with the auditor general and are confident that the preventative measures taken will protect us.”
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