How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
Former NYU administrator John Runowicz faces a court hearing tomorrow on charges of stealing $409,000 from the university.
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According to the Manhattan District Attorney's office, Runowicz fished out receipts from Warehouse Wines & Spirits trash bags over a period of five years, attached them to reimbursement forms, submitted them to the bursar's office and pocketed the cash. He submitted over 13,000 fake receipts from the Broadway liquor store.
If convicted, Runowicz faces up to 15 years in prison.
He pleaded not guilty at his Dec. 23 hearing and was released without bail.
Runowicz was a budget coordinator for the chemistry department when he was arrested last month and indicted on charges of grand larceny and falsifying business records.
Last year a student working in the bursar's office alerted administrators of the operation. Shortly thereafter the university fired Runowicz and notified the D.A.
"The university is deeply disappointed that one of its employees would abuse the trust of our students, faculty, administrators and staff in this way," NYU spokesman John Beckman said.
This is not the first time the university's reimbursement system has been abused.
In April 2007, former CAS student council president Meredith Dolgin stepped down following reports that she submitted receipts for reimbursement that did not meet university standards. Dolgin was also accused of tampering with council elections.
Since discovering Runowicz's fraudulent financial requests, Beckman said the university has overhauled its reimbursement process by placing electronic tracking on each request it receives.
"[It] enables us to recognize suspicious patterns of behavior more readily," Beckman said.
