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
Lawsuit: ORU Leaders Stole $1B a Year
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)   (Associated Press)

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." (More Oral Roberts University stories.)

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