| Auditors on Fulton Science Academy: "Environment of resistance and obstructionism
I have included wide swaths of the auditors' accounts of blocking tactics by the school. Angela Lassetter, a member of the FSAMS governing board, in regards to who she worked for. Later, a teacher arrived, and she stayed for the remainder of the day. Lassetter that she was working along with Mr. Yerich as a contractor and was employed by IAG Forensics. Ozer, Mr. Sener and Mr. Ms. Yilmaz was available); Ms. In the afternoon of March 29, 2012, staff at IAG Forensics received two telephone calls from unidentified individuals inquiring about Ms. One caller asked to communicate with Ms. Chang and Ms. Salem were employed by IAG Forensics. After this conversation, the governing board members returned to Mr. Salem and Ms. Huston that they were going to record the conversation with a handheld recording device. When Ms. Salem said that they were not, the governing board members asked who they worked for, to which they responded IAG Forensics. Salem, but hung up immediately after the call was transferred. During the day, while Mr. When the Auditors first arrived, the bookkeeper was in the room; he remained for the entire day. Yilmaz, once again looking for a way to continue the on-site audit without interruption. Prior to leaving that day, the Auditors met with Mr. Once again, the auditors were told that Mr. Yilmaz was the only person who could pull the requested records. Salem was questioned by Ms. Department of Homeland Security ("DHS"). During the period between May 2009 and present, FSAMS incurred $74,846 in fees to the attorney and DHS. We noted that FSAMS incurred legal costs for immigration services on behalf of not only their employees, but also their family members. Per the Payroll Summary Report for pay period 02/01/2012 to 02/29/2012, FSAMS had 62 employees. Yilmaz stated that FSAMS has 60 employees. Yilmaz) presently working for FSAMS, 12 (20%) have received or are presently receiving immigration services paid for by FSAMS. Of the 60 employees (as cited by Mr. By cross-referencing the invoices from the Law Office of Cherie E. Cookorinis and the DHS and the rosters provided by FCS, we determined that FSAMS recruited personnel from outside the country for the following positions. • Kaya, Yasin - IT Specialist, Computer Teacher• Okumus, Ismail - Turkish Teacher, African/Semetic Language Teacher, Science Lab Coordinator • Oncul, Ebru - Earth Science Teacher • Seker, Davut - Math Teacher • Turan, Nevruz - Science Teacher, Asst. We examined three of the international field trips in the course of our engagement: (1) Spring 2011 Turkey Trip, (2) Summer 2011 Turkey Trip and (3) Spring 2012 Turkey Trip. This is the same way the Auditors were forced to work on prior visits. Shortly after, Mr. Ozer said that Ms. Chang that they would have to leave until he received a note from Jim Yerich stating that they were authorized to work at FSAMS. Chang could return to FSAMS after lunch, or whenever he received this correspondence from Jim Yerich. Huston returned on March 30, 2012, to continue their work. While the audit process was impeded because of early lack of cooperation and FSAMS' continued failure to gather and organize the documents requested in advance of the site visits, the QB records and physical accounting records seemed to be well-maintained and organized. Yilmaz was requested to locate a specific check and related invoice, he was able to retrieve it. We did note that the method by which the school maintained its invoices did make it more time consuming to locate specifically selected invoices;13 however, per Mr. Furthermore, with a copy of the same letter, Mr. Brock notified the State Department of Education of this communication. From that day forward, the FSAMS staff cooperated fully with the Auditors. The governing board members told Ms. Salem and Mr. The Auditors subsequently packed up their bags and left. In the previous visit, Ms. Lassetter) came into the conference room and began asking questions. Chang, Ms. They asked the Auditors if they were full-time employees of Fulton County Schools. Salem asked Principal Sener whether background checks were performed on the adults who traveled with the students and teachers. According to Principal Sener, the adults were considered participants, not chaperones, and as a result, the school did not require any background checks to be performed. As discussed below in Section 3. FCS, in its role of charter schools oversight, and FSAMS, in its role of the trip sponsor, might want to consider the security issues this might raise. We were requested to examine the immigration practices of FSAMS and noted that the school engaged the services of the Law Offices of Cherie E. "Auditor Identity" isn't an issue. Accordingly, Ms. The fact that IAG Forensics is assisting me with your audit isn't new information that you only became privy to today.Chang will be at your office at the date and time noted above and I expect you and your staff will give them your full cooperation. In the evening of March 29, 2012, Mr. Ozer to inform Mr. Brock cited the on-going obstructionist behavior that the Auditors were encountering, hampering their ability to conduct the audit. We recommend that FSAMS consider a different format (i. grouping schedules by account number) which can be easily replicated by Internal Audit or the FCSBOE each month to improve the transparency of the monthly reporting to all interested parties. In the typical course of our engagements, we perform various Internet searches of interested parties. In the course of these searches, we encountered a relevant finding of a criminal nature involving an individual in a position of authority. Both Ms. When they arrived, Mr. Salem presented their badges; FSAMS later requested the badges and said they were going to make copies of these badges. None of the previously requested documents had been pulled or copied in advance of the Auditors' arrival. Each folder contained a month's worth of data. Salem reviewed the expense folders for the months of July 2011 through November 2011. Salem told Ms. Salem replied that she thought the FCS badges were sufficient for them to continue their work. Yerich got through the expense folders for the months of November 2011 through March 2012. On March 29, 2012, prior to departing, Ms. About 11:30AM, two governing board members (one of whom was Ms. Yilmaz, going through one folder at a time, pulling the documents that needed to be copied. George Dyke, Director of Operations for IAG Forensics, fielded a second call in which the caller asked whether or not Ms. Mr. 9 In this email, Ms. What's more, Ms. Muly asked about the FCS badges that had been issued to non-contractual employees. That evening, Mr. When told that Ms. Chang was not available, the caller asked to speak with Ms. Dyke was copied on an on-going email stream, originated by Susan Muly. Salem's role in the audit of FSAMS. Muly, nor had he been pivotal in the audit of FSAMS. Mr. In the afternoon of March 28, Mr. On Thursday, March 29, 2012, Ms. Salem subsequently traveled to the FCS office to complete all required processes, including consenting to criminal background checks, in order to obtain these credentials (badges). Salem arrived at FSAMS at 8AM to continue their work. Salemto obtain FCS credentials. Ozer told them that they could not begin work until Angela Huston arrived because he needed to see a copy of a contract. The auditors asked if the bookkeeper, or anyone else, could pull the records in Mr. Salem, however, were not fraudulent; Ms. " Mr. Salem, so it isn't clear from where he obtained his facts. At no time during this audit have Ms. Salem represented themselves as FCS employees. Salem clearly stated that she worked for IAG Forensics. Salem for whom she worked, Ms. We are not familiar with whether the criminal background check was, in fact, performed. Nor are we familiar with whether the criminal record was sealed on the Georgia Crime Information Center ("GCIC") database as a first time offender and thus, may not have appeared on a GCIC criminal background check. We also inquired about the security measures taken with regard to FSAMS' field trips to Turkey that ranged in length from one to two weeks each. Ozer that the Auditors would return on Thursday and Friday of that week and that he expected "the complete list of original documents, including original vendor invoices, which I gave you nearly two weeks ago to be made available in advance of the auditors' arrival. Ozer of his "current and ongoing breach of the Fulton Science Academy Middle School (FSAMS) charter contract" Mr. As detailed above, the Auditors experienced an environment of resistance and obstructionism. Louis J. As stated above, on March 21, when Ms. Lassetter describes it, that Ms. Salem provided the same answer on March 29, when Ms. Lassetter asked her the same question. Auditors on Fulton Science Academy: "Environment of resistance and obstructionism |
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
Auditors on Fulton Science Academy: “Environment of resistance and obstructionism
