UH President MRC Greenwood says she hopes the university can move past this, but not everyone sees the indictment as closing the case.
The University of Hawaii welcomes the announcement that two individuals were indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with the Stevie Wonder concert scam.
"The situation today brings some closure at least a movement towards closure so I think that’s good, unfortunately the tax payers to this state to some extent and the UH was defrauded $200,000," says Rep. Mark Takai.
In a statement UH President MRC Greenwood said: "The U.S. Attorney and the FBI have now confirmed that the university was the victim of a white-collar crime."
"We’re grateful the indictment has been brought, we hope we receive some measure of restitution."
But not everyone is confident that will ever happen.
"It’s gone and it is gone, we’re not going to see a penny of it, we’re lucky that it was only, only $200,000 and not more because the UH was going to be on the hook for $750,000," said Sen. Sam Slom.
Senator Slom says now at stake is the University’s credibility moving forward.
"I’ve had people tell me directly who have supported the University that they are not putting another penny into it until people are held accountable, yes it’s significant and yes it’s had a damaging effect," he says.
Representative Takai says this episode will still impact legislative discussions on the University and its budget.
"We are still responsible for the taxpayers dollars, we budget accordingly and those are public funds so we have every right to question how the money is being spent," he says.
"We want a better university but it’s got to be fiscally sound," Slom says.
The Senate held two hearings into the handling of the botched concert.
A draft report of their investigation will be released November 19.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
