State Audit Discloses $1-Million Embezzlement at North Carolina Central U.

A former official at North Carolina Central University channeled more than $1-million in federal, state, and private grants into her own bank account and spent some $300,000 of the money on herself, according to a state audit, released today, that was described by The News & Observer, a newspaper in Raleigh, N.C. The official, the executive director of the Historically Minority Colleges and Universities Consortium, was not named in the audit, but local news outlets quickly identified her as Nan Coleman, who was fired in 2009. The consortium, which was based at the university and comprised a dozen public and private institutions across the state, existed to help minority schoolchildren close an achievement gap with their white peers. In a statement released today, the university said the consortium had been closed, the officials responsible no longer work there, and new policies and procedures were in place. No one has been criminally charged in the matter, WTVD-TV reported, but the university’s chancellor, Charlie Nelms, said it would seek restitution of the missing funds.