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An administrator in NYU’s chemistry department is accused of stealing $400,000 by asking the university for reimbursement for approximately 13,000 liquor store receipts that he found over six years by sifting through the trash. Jesus Christ (and I’m only saying that because it’s nearly Christmas), if students knew that the way into NYU’s impenetrable pockets was through receipts of all the money they spend on alcohol no one would bother applying for financial aid.
John Runowicz siphoned off receipts from the Wine Warehouse on Broadway as genuine chemistry department expenses in his capacity as budget coordinator between September 2003 and January 2009, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. He was arrested and charged with grand larceny and falsifying business records and faces up to 19 years in prison for the two crimes. NYU discovered Runowicz’s thievery through a routine audit.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by NYULocal, Chan Lin. Chan Lin said: RT @NYULocal: NYU Admin uses liquor store receipts he found in the trash to steal $400k off the university http://bit.ly/4F7Pso [...]
Wow.
did it have to be liquor store receipts? i mean alcohol is a great chemical and all, but… really?
Stealing money from the Chemistry Dept is pretty bad but I happen to know someone who received her Ph.D. from NYU in the basic sciences and her Professor/Advisor walked off with the credit for her entire dissertation by publishing it in a prestigious peer-reviewed scientific journal under his own name and leaving hers off. Apparently theft of one’s career and intellectual property at NYU is a crime that is not worthy of prosecution….but stealing money is.
holy cow
I’m impressed that it was apparently a suspicious student — not the accountants — who raised the initial alarm. I’m an editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education, and would be interested in talking to that student, if possible. Please drop me a line at don(DOT)troop(AT)chronicle(DOT)com
-Don Troop