OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A small Choctaw County school is under investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Education's inspector general for the misappropriation of at least $235,000 over a five-year period.
The Tulsa World reported Friday that Broken Arrow-based accounting firm Sanders, Bledsoe and Hewett faced questions from the state board of education about audits that it made at the Swink school district. The firm is responsible for auditing nearly one-fourth of Oklahoma's public school districts.
Education department officials questioned how the company gave Swink "clean" audits with no reported findings, recommendations or exceptions over the five-year period.
State officials believe the case involves abuse of district fuel cards, falsified checks, forgery, and the use of public dollars to purchase alcohol, tobacco, video games and other items for personal use from Wal-Mart and Home Depot.