The former president and executive director of the Connecticut Student Loan Foundation, Mark W. Valenti, was “misleading” in his explanation for more than $1 million in questionable expenditures made as the organization racked up years of operating deficits, The Journal Inquirer of Manchester reports.
“On our very first finding on credit cards and problems with the billings, his response started out by saying they no longer have credit cards,” said one of the auditors, Robert G. Jaekle, according to the news report on JI’s Web site. “That’s nice, but we were pointing out findings during the audited period, and we were questioning the appropriateness of the expenses being made at the foundation at a time when the red ink was developing in their financial statements year after year.
“People were getting paid higher, and bonuses were being paid at a time when the red ink was flowing,” the auditor added. “But there were no proper procedures or documentation for those expenses.”
Jaekle’s comments came as the auditors issued their final version of a review of the foundation’s operations in fiscal 2006, 2007, and 2008, the newspaper said.
The 40-page report repeatedly describes many of the expenditures the foundation made during Valenti’s tenure as “unnecessary,” “unsupported,” and “unreasonable,” including gimmicks used to boost the incomes of him and other top executives, the JI said.
They included costly car allowances, credit card charges, and insurance policies that provided no benefit to the foundation.
In one such finding, the auditors said they had discovered that in 2007 and 2008, more than a dozen employees were paid above the maximum salary ranges for their positions.
A previous draft of the report led in part to Valenti’s abrupt firing last summer after he asked for two severance checks totaling nearly $600,000.
But the final report, which for the first time includes the comments Valenti made while still on the job and in response to the auditors’ initial findings, could continue the controversy surrounding the former executive.
Valenti last month dropped a lawsuit he had lodged against the foundation, apparently as part of a financial settlement, the JI said.
