Foundation activities smear University

MISMANAGEMENT  of the University of Panama Foundation, uncovered during an audit by Panama’s Comptroller General,  showing  financial damage to the university of nearly $500,000 in just three years has smeared the image of the country’s most prominent school of higher learning.

The judgment comes from academics, former  trustees and others involved with higher education who bemoaned the damage done to the University, says a La Prensa report.

They say the entity will be damaged not only by the economic abuse  detected in the audit, but by the damage caused to its  image.

The audit, delivered to the Public Ministry last week, covered the period of 2011-2014.

It covered the university, institutes and regional centers. The audit found that funds were diverted from the university to the Foundation, which had an account in a local private bank, a violation of government regulations.

Auditors suggest that the amount could be higher as only 13 academic units were audited, and many more could be involved. In addition, auditors examined only three of the 21 years that the foundation has existed. It was created in 1995 by controversial  Rector Gustavo Garcia de Paredes who until recently was attempting to cling to power by running for re-election.

The university has also been accused of failing to provide all the documentation that was requested.

The investigation found that there were irregularities in the handling of receipts and that the Foundation charged service fees to various administrative units without formalizing agreements. The administrations had earned money from outside sources for research projects and studies The Foundation, run by a small clique of Parades insiders skimmed 10% off the top as administration” fees, while the money went to a private bank.