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Lawsuit: ORU Leaders Stole $1B a Year

Dodgy account used to defraud IRS, renovate ex-president's home

By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 8, 2008 9:06 AM CST
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(Newser) – Oral Roberts University leaders funneled $1 billion a year from the books for their personal use, a former accountant alleges in a lawsuit. The charges are the latest accusations of financial misdeeds to hit the college, the AP reports. The suit names former president Richard Roberts and his wife as among the defendants. Board members also participated, says the suit, so "the foxes were watching the hen house."

Roberts, who resigned shortly after accountant Trent Huddleston's first complaint in November, had already been called out by three fired professors for using university funds to bankroll his lavish lifestyle and spruce up his mansion. While university spokesmen call the new suit "grounded in fantasy,"  Huddleston's lawyer insists that "the lawsuit speaks for itself."

The prayer tower at Oral Roberts University is seen in Tulsa, Okla. on Friday, Oct. 5, 2007. Former Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts, says God is speaking again, is once again embroiled in a financial scandal. (AP Photo)
The prayer tower at Oral Roberts University is seen in Tulsa, Okla. on Friday, Oct. 5, 2007. Former Oral Roberts University President Richard Roberts, says God is speaking again, is once again embroiled...   (Associated Press)
A campus security car stops below the large praying hands at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla. on Friday, Oct. 5, 2007. More than $1 billion a year was inappropriately funneled through ORU, a lawsuit by a former senior accountant at the scandal-plagued school alleges. (AP Photo, FILE)
A campus security car stops below the large praying hands at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla. on Friday, Oct. 5, 2007. More than $1 billion a year was inappropriately funneled through ORU, a lawsuit...   (Associated Press)
Oral Roberts tries to heal a blind woman by laying on of hands in Minneapolis in 1956. His namesake school could use a little of the healing touch now, after allegations that it has been inappropriately funneling money through a shady account.
Oral Roberts tries to heal a blind woman by laying on of hands in Minneapolis in 1956. His namesake school could use a little of the healing touch now, after allegations that it has been inappropriately...   (Magnum Photos)
Richard Roberts, president and chief executive officer of Oral Roberts University, is shown in Tulsa, Okla, in this Sept. 30, 2004, file photo. In October, 2007 Roberts asked the school's board of regents Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007 for a temporary leave of absence, three weeks after a lawsuit accused his...
Richard Roberts, president and chief executive officer of Oral Roberts University, is shown in Tulsa, Okla, in this Sept. 30, 2004, file photo. In October, 2007 Roberts asked the school's board of regents...   (Associated Press)
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accounting • lawsuit • Oral Roberts University • Richard Roberts • Trent Huddleston • defrauding the IRS • funneling money

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