Andrew Crighton
News Editor
On Thursday March 9, Tyler Liddle was taken into custody and arraigned for the charge of felony misuse of public funds.
Liddle, a former ISU employee who worked as a financial technician, was first charged in late February 2017.
The initial warrant and case files were sealed on February 28, and were unsealed after Liddle was arraigned on March 9.
Liddle was a student employee for several years holding a similar job. After graduation he was hired as a full-time staff member by ISU. The charges allege Liddle embezzled over $100,000 over several years from various areas throughout the positions in Student Affairs that had money under his control.
Student Affairs encompasses departments such as ASISU, Early Learning Center, Pond Student Union, University Housing, The Bengal Newspaper and Student Organizations and Activities.
It is likely the university discovered the missing funds during an internal audit, according to Bannock County Prosecutor Stephen Herzog.
Vice President for Marketing and Communications Stuart Summers said that the university could not comment on reports of embezzlement due to the university’s policy on pending litigation.
Concern if the recent announcement of a deficit of nearly $115,000 in ASISU’s budget was dispelled by Makayla Muir, ASISU President.
Muir could not comment on the reports of embezzlement, but explained that ASISU’s budget is created the academic year prior to its implementation with calculations on enrollment numbers and amount of student credit hours from the Academic Affairs.
“For this year, our budget was planned to be a little over $1,000,000, with the enrollment numbers for next year it’s planned to be a little under $900,000. That’s where we get the $115,000 deficit, we have to find that somewhere in our current budget,” Muir said.
Muir also mentioned that ASISU only handles petty cash for its internal use.
A preliminary hearing for Liddle is scheduled for March 29.
