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Home / AL: AG Seeks To Recoup $18 Million in College System Fraud CaseAL: AG Seeks To Recoup $18 Million in College System Fraud Case
Last Updated on Friday, 23 May 2008 10:43 Written by rslcpol Friday, 23 May 2008 10:23
Sure looks and sounds like Republican A.G. Troy King is doing right by Alabama taxpayers. Now is the time for General King to get this done. From Tuscaloosa News:
Two-year college system Chancellor Bradley Byrne and Attorney General Troy King plan to go after $18 million that former system Chancellor Roy Johnson agreed to forfeit to the federal government in a corruption probe.
King told the state school board on Thursday he plans to file civil lawsuits on Byrne’s behalf to recover money from Johnson and other individuals and businesses involved in the two-year system’s corruption scandal.
‘We believe it’s all state money; we think we are entitled to the entire $18 million,’ Byrne said. ‘I think it was taken from our system so it needs to be paid back to our system. There’s been no negotiation that we get all or any part of it.’
In his federal plea agreement in March, Johnson agreed to forfeit at least $18 million. Federal authorities on Thursday couldn’t say whether the government planned to keep the $18 million or refund any of it to Alabama.
Karen Naramore, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Alice Martin in Birmingham, who prosecuted Johnson, said those questions would be answered after Johnson’s sentencing on Aug. 20.
Where the $18 million goes could set up a confrontation between the state and federal governments in state court, where King said he plans to file the suit.