Though investigators have scrutinized hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenditures as part of the probe of employees of New Mexico State University’s facilities department, they are now focused on a number of smaller construction projects at staffers’ homes.
I reported earlier today that investigators suspected the potential loss could be hundreds of thousands of dollars but might be much smaller. I’m now told by two sources with knowledge of the investigation that it is likely smaller, and that investigators began by looking at a wide range of expenditures in an attempt to be thorough.
There have certainly been rumors about misuse of time and equipment at the facilities department for years that would justify a broad probe.
Though knowledge of the probe became public on Thursday, it’s been ongoing for several weeks, and has included the university police, Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department, FBI and financial auditors. They began by looking at a number of issues related to employee overtime and the potential misuse of NMSU funds and resources for construction projects on employees’ homes.
They’re now focused on employees’ alleged personal use of equipment, funds and resources for a number of specific projects, the sources tell me. There’s no certainty at this point that anyone will be charged.
The investigation could wrap up in the next couple of weeks.