State audit at Itawamba Community College uncovers $2 million in misused job training funds
A community college dean and a furniture company’s bookkeeper have been arrested for defrauding the state to access job training funds, according to the latest report from State Auditor Shad White.
The arrests are part of broader alleged misuse of $2.3 million in job training money over five years at Itawamba Community College. The case is the latest example of the state’s history of inadequate oversight over several millions of dollars in taxpayer funded workforce development programs.
“Now is the time for policymakers to acknowledge there are not enough fraud-prevention safeguards in place in our workforce training program,” White said in a statement. “Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent on this every year. We need to be sure the money is being used appropriately.”
White’s audit of the job training money spent through Itawamba Community College uncovered three unrelated misuses of funds that resulted in the arrests, as well as demands the college itself return about $1.4 million it should have never received.
Read more: https://mississippitoday.org/2021/10/18/itawamba-community-college-2-million-job-training/